From Emory NOW to ASPIRE—Redesigning Access with Purpose
By Molly Siegel, MPH, Senior Associate, Patient Access Collaborative
When Emory Healthcare launched “Emory NOW” in early 2022, the mandate was audacious: eliminate barriers to care, offer same-day appointments, and modernize the scheduling experience overnight. What followed was a whirlwind, 16-week transformation—and now, a thoughtful evolution toward sustainability.
In a riveting webinar session, Vice Presidents Haley Bolton and Liz Johnson walked through Emory’s access arc—from a bold promise to a scalable, system-wide framework called ASPIRE. Theirs is a journey from pressure to purpose.
The Pressure Cooker: Emory NOW
The vision started with a single promise: "Would you like to be seen today or tomorrow?" That commitment—issued directly from Emory Healthcare’s newly appointed Executive Vice President after hearing patient and physician frustrations—sparked a sprint to overhaul access.
Within weeks, Emory launched new scheduling protocols, empowered contact center teams, and enabled online self-scheduling and automated waitlists. They aligned over 300 leaders in an "Access Summit," codified expectations, and drove alignment across ambulatory clinics and radiology.
The impact was immediate:
- 800+ additional daily ambulatory arrivals
- 500+ daily imaging visits
- 700% increase in self-scheduling
The remarkable results were achieved while keeping clinical FTEs neutral.
As the months passed, however, progress slowed. New patient growth lagged, same-day access was inconsistent, and practice variation persisted. Culture, staffing, and technology gaps limited scalability – and sustainability.
The Pivot: From NOW to ASPIRE
In 2025, Emory launched ASPIRE—a three-year roadmap rooted in sustainable access excellence. The North Star? Every patient offered an appointment within a week, urgent cases seen same-day, and access built into the design of care itself.
ASPIRE is structured around five strategic pillars:
- Standardization – Unified templates and expectations across divisions
- Access Excellence – Optimize patient mix and match market benchmarks
- Care Team Models – Maximize advanced practice providers’ utilization and prioritize visit efficiency
- Seamless Experience – Simplify patient journeys across specialties
- Operational Efficiency – Cut complexity, improve workflows, and boost staff capacity
The Technology Engine: Project EDGE
As part of ASPIRE, Emory rolled out Project EDGE, a digital integration of an integrated CRM interfaced with a new telephony system. This unified communication ecosystem supports:
- Intelligent call routing
- Proactive outreach via campaigns
- Automated confirmations and cancellations
- Care gap closure through next-best-action algorithms
EDGE has already shown promise in reducing call volume, enhancing agent productivity, and improving patient retention. Key metrics like cost per call, conversion rate, and task completion per FTE are all trending in the right direction.
The Principles That Matter
Haley and Liz were candid: meaningful change demands more than technology. It requires cultural courage. ASPIRE’s success hinges on three core principles:
- Hold the line on standards. No more bending for divisions that resist change.
- Address resistance to change. Honest conversations about evolving practices and traditional approaches are challenging but essential for progress.
- Build coalitions. Bring schedulers, nurses, IT teams, administrators, etc – all stakeholders - to the table; everyone has a role in advancing access.
The Road Ahead
Emory is now halfway through the inaugural year of ASPIRE. With template standardization in place, the next phase will focus on aligning incentives and scaling care model redesign. By Year 3, the goal is clear: system-wide, within-the-week access and a fully integrated, patient-centered access experience.
Emory’s journey reminds us: urgency sparks change, but vision sustains it. With ASPIRE, they’re not just fixing scheduling—they’re redesigning healthcare delivery from the ground up.
Hear the voices of Patient Access Collaborative leaders first-hand by following us on Spotify for our All-Access Pass podcast.