Jefferson's Mallozzi: Nurses Should Co-Develop the 'Why' Before Ambient AI

Colleen Mallozzi, SVP and Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at Jefferson Health, makes the case that ambient AI succeeds in nursing only when nurses help build the rationale for it themselves. She explains why forced rollouts stall, why the hesitancy curve runs opposite to what most leaders expect, and how "conversational care" can return time and humanity to the bedside. Anthony Guerra and Colleen Mallozzi discuss ambient AI and ambient documentation for nurses, structured flowsheets versus physician prose, the Abridge and Microsoft Dragon Copilot nursing pilots on separate Epic instances, Epic's Agent Factory, change management and clinician adoption, the counterintuitive experience-based hesitancy curve, nurse well-being and burnout post-COVID, downtime preparedness and disaster recovery, business continuity, the CNIO/CMIO dyad, governance, and building nursing informatics teams from the bedside. GUEST Colleen Mallozzi, MBA, RN — SVP & Chief Nursing Informatics Officer, Jefferson Health HOST Anthony Guerra — Founder & Editor-in-Chief, healthsystemCIO CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro & Colleen's role at Jefferson Health 01:38 Why ambient AI is different for nurses 05:18 The counterintuitive hesitancy curve 07:05 Co-developing the 'why' with nurses 15:40 Piloting Abridge and Microsoft Dragon 18:06 Nursing's role in downtime & disaster recovery 31:44 Advice to fellow CNIOs KEY THEMES & TAKEAWAYS Co-develop the 'why' Mallozzi's teams don't impose ambient AI; nurses raise their hands and co-own the rationale before rollout, because forced change rarely sticks (07:05). The hesitancy curve is inverted Roughly 30% hesitancy tracks with less bedside experience, so newer nurses are often warier of vocalized care than seasoned ones — it's about clinical confidence, not tech comfort (05:18). Two pilots, two vendors, two Epic instances Jefferson is piloting Abridge in the Lehigh region and Microsoft Dragon at Abington, staying vendor-flexible while the nursing ambient market matures (15:40). Give time back to nurses The goal of conversational care is to return time — to the patient, and to the nurse for a break, lunch, or a walk outside (26:34). Nursing belongs in downtime planning From EHR outages to 'digital darkness,' Mallozzi argues nursing must sit at the disaster-recovery and business-continuity table alongside IT and cybersecurity (18:06). FINAL ADVICE Mallozzi: Get the CNIO to the table, pair with your CMIO and chief nurse executive, be wildly transparent about the goal, and involve clinical nurses in every step from design to the yes/no decision (31:44).