Re-Imagining Human Development in Healthcare
By Gidon Margolin, President and CEO, Practicing Excellence
Healthcare leaders have been clear with us.
You do not need more programs.
You do not need more content.
You do not need another initiative competing for already scarce time.
What you need is support that shows up when work gets hard.
Support that is relevant, aligned, and proven.
Support that helps teams perform better in real moments, not just feel better after training.
That clarity led us to a simpler question.
What would human development look like if it lived inside the flow of care?
What We Tested and What We Learned
To validate what healthcare leaders were asking for, we partnered with five organizations to test an integrated Practicing Excellence and Sageful AI experience across clinical and operational settings.
The goal was straightforward: determine whether technology-powered personalized coaching could increase relevance, behavior change, and impact without sacrificing trust, quality, or human connection.
The Approach
Nearly 300 multidisciplinary leaders, including physicians, APPs, nurses, and operational leaders, participated in a proof-of-concept using My PE Coach.
The experience delivered coaching embedded directly into daily work. It translated individual interests and organizational priorities into practical, day-to-day behaviors.
Participants used My PE Coach for guidance on challenges like setting the right tone in difficult conversations, navigating team conflict, communicating change and expectations clearly, and strengthening everyday coaching and feedback.
The results were clear.
- Teams accessed relevant guidance faster in moments that mattered most.
- Leaders reported stronger alignment between learning, action, and organizational goals.
- Participants described the experience as supportive and practical, not overwhelming.
“When we teamed up with Practicing Excellence to experiment with a new concept, we saw firsthand what human development looks like when it is personal, contextual, timely, and embedded in our everyday work,” said Chrisie Scott, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Virtua Health. “Our physicians, nurses, and leaders turned to My PE Coach in the moments that matter, getting practical guidance for challenges like setting the right tone in difficult conversations, navigating team conflict, communicating change and expectations clearly, and strengthening everyday coaching and feedback. What stood out was watching these small shifts in how we do things spark amazing success stories that could lead to real impact across our organization.”
Debbie Dover, SVP of Talent and Engagement and Chief Human Resources Officer at Ballad Health, added, “Our work with My PE Coach reinforced where human development is headed. Our teams need development that fits into their day, not something that pulls them away from it. The breadth, depth, and relevance of these resources aligned with our organizational priorities while delivering timely, personalized support exactly when it was needed. We are grateful for our partnership with Practicing Excellence and excited to expand this capability more broadly.”
Andrew Bartlett, D.O., Chief Medical Officer from Christie Clinic, added, “As part of the proof-of-concept, I saw clinicians use My PE Coach to get relevant guidance exactly when they needed it, without stepping away from patient care. That ability to deliver practical, in-the-moment coaching is what makes this scalable and effective in a clinical environment.”
The signal was clear.
This approach delivered measurable value and confirmed we should move forward.
The Next Step
Today, I am excited to share the next chapter.
Practicing Excellence has acquired Sageful AI.
This is not a technology acquisition for technology’s sake.
It is a strategic step forward in our ambition to re-imagine human development in healthcare.
Why We Chose to Combine
Sageful AI was built on a simple belief.
Technology should democratize learning, support behavior change, and drive outcomes.
Sageful AI draws on more than 30 years of thought leadership in learning transfer, using AI to help organizations translate leadership and development investments into observable behavior change and measurable impact. By embedding coaching support into everyday work, Sageful aligns organizational priorities with individual context to drive sustained results where it matters most.
That belief mirrors our own.
For years, Practicing Excellence has focused on one thing above all else.
Changing behavior at scale.
Not delivering content.
Not checking boxes.
Not running one-time programs.
Behavior change that improves patient experience, strengthens teams, develops leaders, and advances clinical excellence.
Sageful AI was created to bring the best ideas in leadership and development into the flow of work. By combining proven approaches with organizational priorities and individual context, Sageful turns good intentions into visible behavior change and measurable results.
Practicing Excellence brings decades of healthcare-specific experience, a proven evidence-based library, trusted relationships, and demonstrated results at scale.
Together, we are creating the human development system that healthcare has been missing.
A system built for real work.
The Power of the Combined Organizations
Practicing Excellence and Sageful AI unite the art of human development with the science of behavioral improvement.
Practicing Excellence brings deep healthcare expertise across patient experience, engagement, leadership, and clinical excellence. We offer an evidence-based library grounded in real-world practice, proven outcomes across retention, experience, burnout, and leadership effectiveness, and trusted partnerships with leading health systems and medical groups.
Sageful AI brings AI-powered personalization designed for moments of decision and pressure. The technology adapts to individual context without losing alignment, grounded in learning transfer and behavior change rather than information delivery.
Together, we deliver what leaders have been asking for but rarely see.
Personalized development.
Aligned to organizational priorities.
Delivered at enterprise scale.
Embedded directly into the flow of work.
Moving Beyond Traditional Development
Healthcare has outgrown episodic learning.
Workshops, courses, and scheduled training still matter, but they cannot carry today’s expectations alone.
Performance is won or lost in difficult conversations, moments of conflict, how expectations are reinforced, and how leaders respond under pressure.
Together, Practicing Excellence and Sageful AI support the full cycle of human development, from in-person learning with colleagues to real-time application in daily work.
This is where human development becomes practical, continuous, and measurable.
One Ambition: Re-Imagining Human Development
Our ambition is not incremental improvement.
We are re-imagining human development to be continuous rather than episodic, embedded rather than separate from work, personalized rather than one-size-fits-all, aligned to enterprise priorities rather than disconnected initiatives, and focused on behavior and outcomes rather than content completion.
This is human development designed for physicians leading in real moments, nurses and APPs navigating constant complexity, leaders accountable for engagement and retention, and organizations seeking measurable impact rather than activity.
What This Means for Healthcare Leaders
This combination removes false tradeoffs.
You no longer have to choose between personalization and scale.
Between relevance and consistency.
Between development and productivity.
You can support teams without pulling them away from care.
You can reinforce what matters most without adding meetings or programs.
You can see behavior change take hold where it actually counts.
Looking Ahead
This acquisition marks the beginning of a new chapter.
Together, Practicing Excellence and Sageful AI are building the future of human development in healthcare. One where support shows up under pressure. One where learning turns into action. One where excellence becomes standard practice.
This is not about adding more to already full plates.
It is about making what matters most easier to do every day.
That is our ambition. And this is just the beginning.
We invite healthcare leaders to build the future with us.
Gidon Margolin
President & CEO | Practicing Excellence
Gidon Margolin is currently the President and CEO of Practicing Excellence. Prior, he served as the vice president of Health System Strategy at NRC Health, helping their partners accelerate patient experience transformation through innovative thinking, collaboration, and execution.
