Ascension Standardized New Patient Care Models

The health system has formalized a strategy to scale digital outreach and clinical care tools nationwide.

Updated on Sept. 18, 2026 in Healthcare

Isometric editorial illustration showing organized clinical modular hubs and architectural corridors, representing standardized healthcare infrastructure. — Ascension has launched a standardized nationwide strategy to evaluate and scale its digital patient outreach and virtual clinical care models. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Ascension has implemented a standardized process for evaluating and scaling new care models across its 91 hospitals. This initiative follows successful trials of digital outreach programs designed to close patient care gaps.

Why it matters

By testing new care models for clinical, operational, and financial viability, Ascension aims to ensure that its digital tools effectively serve patients before wide-scale implementation.

A digital outreach campaign reaching 179,711 Medicare patients generated 73,253 appointments, a 40.7% conversion rate. Additionally, patients receiving pre-visit texts closed care gaps 5.4 percentage points faster than those who did not.

The players

Ascension

Ascension is a nonprofit health system headquartered in St. Louis that operates 91 hospitals across the United States.

The details

Ascension gathers input from front-line staff and patients to refine digital tools, such as its postpartum messaging program which maintains a 90% retention rate. The health system is now focused on rolling out virtual care options across its network in 36 states and the District of Columbia.

The digital Medicare outreach campaign ran from September 2022 through September 2024.
Clinical trial results for the pre-visit text program were published in May 2025.

Market Landscape

The move aligns with a broader healthcare industry shift toward data-driven, digitized patient management systems. It positions Ascension to better utilize standardized clinical outcomes to compete against other national hospital networks.

Patients across the network can expect more personalized digital outreach for appointment scheduling and preventative care reminders. These tools aim to reduce the time required to address health gaps through improved communication and virtual care access.

The takeaway

Standardizing digital health tools allows large providers to improve patient engagement while maintaining clinical consistency. Patients should look for increased digital outreach as providers continue to scale these virtual care models.