Innovations in Health Care 2025

by Madeleine Maccar | Dec 12, 2025

This season of gratitude and togetherness is the perfect time to also celebrate the medical providers, hospitals and other health care organizations keeping us and our loved ones healthy all year long. In addition to South Jersey being home to a truly exhaustive range of medical professionals delivering world-class care right in our own backyard, it’s also home to some future-forward technology, medical milestones and best practices that reflect a willingness to learn, innovate and do more for their neighbors.

Read on to find out more about what 2025 brought to the region, arming physicians and other experts in the field with the tools of today so we can all welcome an even healthier tomorrow.

Advocare
Innovations for physicians by physicians
At Advocare, physicians remain fully in control. This independence from private equity and profit-driven oversight fosters a culture where patient care comes first and innovation naturally follows. Advocare is redefining what modern, community-based health care can look like by pairing physician ownership with cutting-edge digital capabilities.

With guidance from Chief Information Officer Ed Maule, Advocare practices benefit from AI support tools, telemedicine, remote check-ins and industry-leading cybersecurity. “When physicians have both autonomy and the right technology, great things happen,” he notes.

Guided by Maule’s vision, Advocare has built a modern, secure technology infrastructure that allows physicians to remain independent while enjoying the benefits of scale, data insight and digital connectivity once reserved for large hospital systems. His innovative approach has made it possible for more than 870 providers at 270 care locations to run efficient, patient-focused practices delivering high-quality care not only across New Jersey but also in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Advocare’s technology and cybersecurity framework have evolved into one of the most advanced among independent medical groups in the region. Maule’s team has deployed tools that simplify clinical workflows, enhance telehealth and digital patient engagement, and ensure regulatory compliance—all while being more connected, more secure and more focused on patients than ever before.

Lindenberg Cancer & Hematology Center

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- A Show of Strength

With the state ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, South Jersey is proving there’s more ways than one to put up a fight.

Customized cancer treatments
According to Practice Administrator Cindy Lindenberg, investing in the tools and technology of modern medicine is critical, as “staying at the forefront of technology is fundamental to our mission: to deliver care that is informed, effective, and future-ready.”

The team at Lindenberg Cancer & Hematology Center delivers treatment solutions specifically engineered for each patient, identifying the most effective therapy for each tumor’s biology, minimizing guesswork and maximizing therapeutic impact.

“What we’re most excited to highlight is precision-medicine, which uses genomic insights to tailor treatments uniquely to each patient,” Lindenberg begins. “This advances what our team can accomplish by helping us choose therapies based on what will work best for that individual—not simply what works in general.”

She continues: “It improves diagnostics by revealing the specific drivers of each cancer and enhances outcomes by guiding us toward more targeted, less toxic options. We invest in this approach because our patients deserve care that is both cutting-edge and deeply personal. And as medicine evolves, keeping pace with modern tools and technologies ensures we can continue offering the highest standard of care. For us, innovation isn’t just progress—it’s a promise to deliver the most hopeful path forward.”

Inspira Health
Harnessing operations intelligence to enhance safety and efficiency
Inspira launched the region’s first Operations Intelligence Center (OIC) to coordinate and optimize patient movement within and beyond its South Jersey facilities. By building upon the industry-tested capacity command center model, Inspira has created an OIC that improves safety, efficiency and experiences.

“With care locations in five counties and more than 8,000 employees, we needed an outside-the-box solution to provide care that is safe, efficient and focused on the patient experience,” says Warren E. Moore, Inspira’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “The development and launch of our OIC was an incredible team effort involving hundreds of leaders and front-line staff from across our system.”

Professionals like patient flow supervisors, bed managers, transfer coordinators and transportation dispatchers all come together to facilitate safe timely care. Quickly getting patients where they need to be—including back home after discharge—requires a highly coordinated effort where everyone has access to up-to-date information.

The integration of ground transport into the OIC and its partnership with the health system’s access center are unique in the region, allowing for vital connections and decision making to be made in real time. This approach also supports continuity of care within and between Inspira’s inpatient and outpatient services.

Marquis Health Consulting Services
A client’s milestone benefits the region
Mount Holly Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, a client of Marquis, started the year off with some big news: It’s the country’s first skilled nursing facility to earn the American Heart Association’s (AHA’s) Skilled Nursing Facility Stroke Rehabilitation Certification, which provides a framework for evaluating skilled nursing facilities against rigorous science-based requirements for stroke rehabilitation.

Mount Holly’s Stroke Recovery Program is the region’s first specialized subacute care offering of its kind. Directed by Tracey Harris, MD, stroke rehabilitation services are tailored to meet individuals’ specific needs and goals, depending on a stroke’s impact. The program aims to help restore physical function and the ability to perform daily activities, gain strength and endurance, improve balance and mobility, manage pain and spasticity, overcome speech and communication deficits, and develop new cognitive strategies.

“When there are evidence-based processes during every phase of care, patients have the best opportunity for positive outcomes,” says Pamela Duncan, PhD, PT, FAPTA, FAHA, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association’s Skilled Nursing Facility Stroke Rehabilitation Certification Oversight Workgroup. “Participation in this certification benefits the patient and the facility by standardizing care, helping patients and their loved ones choose a facility that follows important best practices.”

AmeriHealth
Promoting senior health equity
To address persistent health disparities among Camden County’s seniors, AmeriHealth launched a community-centered initiative this past May to close gaps in their care. Leveraging data from claims, HEDIS metrics and member feedback, the AmeriHealth Medicare team identified critical barriers precluding older adults from receiving essential preventive services.

AmeriHealth has partnered with health systems—including Cooper, Virtua and CAMcare—to host a series of Senior Health Expos designed to bring care directly to the community. These events have already reached more than 300 seniors, and have offered on-site screenings for diabetes, kidney health, vision and blood pressure, along with flu shots, fall-risk assessments and chronic condition education.

Cooper University Health Care
Minimally invasive brain treatment
Cooper and Inspira Neuroscience successfully completed their first Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) procedure, performed by neurosurgeon Islam Fayed, MD, and supported by Cooper’s expert neurosurgical and imaging teams.

A cutting-edge neurosurgical technique, LITT is used to treat brain tumors, epilepsy and other abnormalities often considered inoperable with traditional open surgery. The procedure involves implanting a tiny laser catheter into the diseased area and using MRI-guided technology to apply focused heat, destroying abnormal tissue while sparing surrounding healthy brain structures.

“LITT offers new hope for patients who may not be candidates for conventional surgery due to tumor location, age, prior treatments or other medical concerns,” says Dr. Fayed.

Deborah Heart and Lung Center
Investigational cardiac technology
This summer, Deborah implanted its first Optimizer™ Integra-D Cardiac Contractility Modulation – Defibrillator (CCM-D) device. Division Director of Electrophysiology and Pacing Raffaele Corbisiero, MD, performed the procedure in national clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of the first-of-its-kind system.

The device is investigational technology combining cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) therapy with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), offering heart failure patients both symptom improvement and critical protection against sudden cardiac arrest.

“By providing CCM therapy to strengthen the heart’s contractions, along with the life-saving capabilities of an ICD, we are able to offer our patients a more comprehensive treatment option with a single implant,” Dr. Corbisiero notes.

Jefferson Health East
Cancer center’s prestigious designation
South Jersey’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center is one of fewer than 60 programs nationwide to earn an NCI Comprehensive designation. This recognizes programs that meet rigorous research and clinical standards, meaning the center’s patients benefit from the latest developments in cancer research, technology and treatment.

Providers specialize in a wide range of cancer types and deliver personalized treatment plans with innovative techniques and technologies—including immunotherapy, minimally invasive and robotic surgery, genetic testing and clinical trials.

This approach ensures the most accurate and effective radiation treatment with fewer side effects, can be beneficial for all cancer types and is typically completed in five treatments or fewer.

Samaritan
A statewide first in cardiac care

Home-based hospice care provider Samaritan earned American Heart Association’s Palliative/Hospice Heart Failure certification last month, which helps assure patients, and their loved ones, that their end-of-life heart failure care is coordinated and follows the latest evidence-based guidelines.

Samaritan has the distinction of being the first New Jersey-based hospice to receive this certification.

“Samaritan is proud to receive this certification from the American Heart Association,” says Dr. Sara Pagliaro, chief medical officer at Samaritan. “The tools and resources provided by the American Heart Association help us provide education and opportunities for our agencies to work toward quality efforts for our patients with heart failure. This accomplishment reflects our commitment to provide quality care.”

Virtua Health
Managing irregular heart rhythms
For patients with heart-rhythm problems like atrial fibrillation (AFib), the innovative combination of two procedures—AFib ablation and left atrial appendage occlusion—are helping them thrive.

While ablation is effective in permanently eliminating significant heart-rhythm problems, many patients still require blood thinners to reduce their blood-clot and stroke risks. For those who cannot take blood thinners, left atrial appendage occlusion is a procedure where a stent-like device called The Watchman is placed in the heart to block the most common area where blood clots form in AFib patients.

According to cardiologist Heath Saltzman, MD, FACC, “Ablation and left atrial appendage occlusion are usually done in two completely separate operations, resulting in an increased number of procedures for patients. For suitable patients, providing both therapies at the same time offers a powerful and convenient solution.

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Published (and copyrighted) in South Jersey Biz, Volume 15, Issue 12 (December 2025).

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Author: Madeleine Maccar

Innovations in Health Care 2025

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