Jose Azar, Chief Quality Officer, Hackensack Meridian Health

In an interview with Invest:, Jose Azar, chief quality officer of Hackensack Meridian Health, discussed quality indicators in healthcare as well as groundbreaking technology. “The approach at Hackensack Meridian Health is to create a culture of quality, safety, transparency and trust and to embrace analytics and advanced technology and, of course, focus relentlessly on our patients,” Azar said.

We hear a lot in healthcare today about improving quality and keeping patients healthier. What are some of the tangible results you are seeing?

The approach at Hackensack Meridian Health is to create a culture of quality, safety, transparency and trust and to embrace analytics and advanced technology and, of course, focus relentlessly on our patients. The results we are achieving are deeply satisfying because we are improving the patient experience and saving more lives. Last year alone, at Hackensack University Medical Center, 354 people who were not expected to live given their acuity are enjoying family, friends, and so much more. This is why we do what we do. 

Throughout our 18-hospital system, we have reduced preventable deaths, hospital-acquired infections, unnecessary readmissions, surgical complications and falls. For example, between 2023 and 2025, we reduced readmissions by 5% while the national average worsened in the same time period by 1.5%. This translates to approximately 10,000 discharged patients avoiding being readmitted in that time frame. Our patient satisfaction scores at our flagship have also improved 23% over the last few years, greatly outperforming the national rate of improvement.

What quality indicators are patients most concerned about, and how are you addressing those? 

We are all interested in achieving the best outcomes, but patients may redefine these a little differently. While health systems are keenly focused on reducing hospital-acquired infections, unnecessary readmissions, lengthy hospital stays and such, patients may be defining quality as something as simple as having a physician who listens to their concerns. Or having a staff that is friendly, caring, and provides a clear vision for how to improve their health.

This is why quality is built into every system, every process, and every patient interaction. By empowering clinicians, standardizing best practices, and leveraging real-time data, we deliver leading clinical performance across specialties, facilities, and the entire continuum of care and outstanding patient satisfaction. Clearly, our patients are the beneficiaries, and we will continue to keep improving.

We are also aware of the challenges that patients face when trying to access healthcare promptly. This is a national and state-wide challenge. We are focused on making timely access to our primary care and specialty care convenient and easy for our patients and families. 

There’s so much talk in healthcare about AI and other groundbreaking technologies improving patient care. Can you share some details?

There’s no question that AI is having a transformative impact. It has the potential to improve care delivery on a scale we have never seen. Predictive analytics can help hospitals better focus on patients at high risk for various conditions, or let executives know when they need to schedule more staff, etc. AI is enhancing disease detection and helping us intervene earlier so patients have the best chance of survival. Advances in technology, including remote monitoring, are helping more patients receive care – even hospital-level care at home, which greatly enhances patient satisfaction. We have also launched an AI agent for navigating patients’ needs and scheduling appointments post-discharge.

Where is the industry headed in the future when it comes to enhancing quality? What will this progress look like in two or three years?

We will continue to harness the power of technology and invest in improving quality and the patient experience. We are also focusing on the next iteration of medicine, in which we will consider ‘Am I meeting your goals in healing your disease?’ to provide personalized care.

For example, when we are solving the problem of a patient’s shortness of breath, “healing” means something different to a 45-year-old than it does to an 80-year-old. Providers need to understand the patient’s personal goals and align care with what matters most to each individual. 

I started my career in oncology and quickly deepened my passion for advancing care delivery and focusing on more personalized care. Watching patients suffer more from the effects of chemotherapy than their disease opened my eyes to the urgent need for better, more compassionate approaches. My time in oncology and now in executive leadership has allowed me to innovate and think beyond the treatment itself for a more holistic view of patient care.