BOWIE, Md. – September 23, 2026 – Inovalon, a leading provider of data and solutions empowering data-driven healthcare, today announced the winners of the 2026 Inovalon Impact Awards, which celebrate the people and teams turning healthcare data into measurable results for patients and clinicians. This year’s recipients were recognized with a $40,000 charitable donation in their name at the Impact Awards dinner at Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland.
“Many claim to be data-driven, but these four recipients can prove it,” said Paige Kilian, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Inovalon. “Each has demonstrated substantial operational impact through work done and results achieved this year, and that’s the difference between talking about data-driven healthcare and practicing it. Their collective impact shows what’s possible when healthcare organizations turn data into action, and we’re honored to support their work.”
Healthcare Hero
Susan Goldberg, Director of Accreditation and Patient Safety at Northern Arizona Healthcare, is this year’s Healthcare Hero. Goldberg led a system-wide effort to build a culture where any of the organization’s 4,000+ caregivers feel safe reporting a safety concern, using Inovalon’s VigiLanz Safety Management™ solution to capture frontline reports and turn them into action. The team saw a 19% increase in reported safety events in fiscal year 2025 over the prior year, and insights captured through the solution have driven more than 177 organization-wide safety initiatives.
“It means everything to see our caregivers go from asking ‘should I report this?’ to asking ‘how do we make this safer?’” said Goldberg. “These numbers reflect a shift in our caregivers trusting that speaking up leads to real change, not blame. We’ve built a way of working that turns that momentum into a catalyst for safer care, stronger collaboration, and better outcomes for every patient.”
Innovator of the Year
This year’s recipient is Grant Norton, Director of Revenue Cycle Process Improvement at St. Mary’s Healthcare. Norton was recognized for integrating Inovalon’s revenue cycle solutions with the hospital’s Meditech EHR, helping St. Mary’s add more than 60 providers and grow monthly claims volume by 26.8%, from 35,500 to 45,000, without adding billing staff.
Data Dream Team
Inovalon recognized MVP Health Care’s Quality Measures Data Product team for turning an 18-day data bottleneck into a 48-hour turnaround. Working with Inovalon’s Converged Quality™ solution, the team rebuilt how the health plan consumes quality data, growing member care gap outreach from one reminder to 20 and cutting some regulatory audit response times by as much as tenfold.
Collective Excellence
Ardon Health was recognized for consolidating three disconnected systems onto a single Inovalon ScriptMed® platform under the leadership of its president, Heather Chapman. Between November 2025 and June 2026, Ardon grew patient engagement in its MyShare program by more than 537% while nearly doubling script volume.
“Inovalon truly operated as an extension of our team,” said Chapman. “They worked side by side with our staff to understand our workflows and resolve issues collaboratively as they arose. The transition occurred seamlessly in the background for our patients, and the new platform enhances our care delivery capabilities while setting the stage for continued operational excellence and future growth.”
For more information about the 2026 Inovalon Impact Awards categories and eligibility requirements, visit the Inovalon Impact Awards page or contact awards@inovalon.com.
