When colleagues across Sound Physicians gather, whether in person or online, one word is almost always at the top of the agenda: Reflection. A team member takes the floor and shares a meaningful patient interaction or a lesson learned from a recent personal encounter. For years, this tradition has grounded us in what matters most—people. It’s an intentional pause to appreciate where we’ve been, what we’ve learned, and how those experiences shape the care we provide.
As Sound celebrates its 25-year anniversary, reflection feels especially fitting. Our story is inseparable from the story of modern healthcare. Since 2001, Sound has grown within and alongside a rapidly changing health landscape, adapting to new challenges, technologies, models of care, and deepening partnerships with hospitals and health systems nationwide. Looking back offers an opportunity to not only celebrate our journey, but also examine how the cornerstones of Sound’s processes, technology, and culture built the foundation of excellence we continue today.
The Sound Way
Founded as South Sound Inpatient Physicians in 2001, an emergency department physician and a handful of hospitalists joined forces in a small home office to create a medical group focused on bringing exceptional acute care to hospitals in their region. Hospital medicine was a relatively new specialty, and most hospitals operated independently with their own processes and approaches to care. As Dr. Rob Zipper, Chief Medical Officer of Sound Practice Solutions, recalled, “Back in 2006, when I joined Sound, nobody knew how to define what a good hospitalist program was. The term ‘hospitalist’ had only been coined about 10 years prior.”
After achieving a workforce of 100 hospitalists and 10 hospital partners by 2006, momentum continued to build. Sound’s unique approach to partnership yielded reproducible practices with standardized processes that wouldn’t stifle clinician autonomy. “Today, it’s often referred to as The Sound Way,” said Dr. Zipper, “but early on, it was just how we did things. Staffing ratios, shift design, integrating advanced practice providers (APPs) on clinical teams—our role was to improve processes; we weren’t going to tell people how to treat a patient.”
Soon, The Sound Way outgrew its original charter, and we began improving systems of care beyond hospital medicine. New specialties were added and before long, Sound was improving care in emergency departments, intensive care units, and operating rooms as a multispecialty medical group. Solving operational problems and helping practices navigate change—while still providing exceptional care to patients—became our unwavering mission.
Looking ahead, Dr. Zipper believes the qualities that defined The Sound Way from the beginning will continue to guide Sound’s impact on healthcare. “I’m excited about whatever will surprise me next,” he said, reflecting on a history of bold risks that propelled the organization forward. “Health policy somehow manages to change both quickly and slowly at the same time, and I suspect we will take more bets in this area.” For Dr. Zipper, Sound’s track record of challenging conventional thinking will be a necessity in its mission to provide innovative, high-quality care.
The Sound Tech
Healthcare technology couldn’t have been more different 25 years ago. Electronic systems were few and far between, with most health systems still relying on paper delivery for processes like medical records and payment. “When Sound started, we had somebody driving around collecting paper super bills and faxing them to the billing company,” said Zima Hartz, who served as the organization’s first Chief Information Officer and was brought on in 2007 to lead Sound’s technology into a new era.
From the very beginning, technology was a vital part of Sound’s development. “Technology was a differentiator,” said Hartz. “Using it to deliver services better and capture charges from our billing agencies helped us sustainably scale the organization—in many ways, it was the backbone of our operations.”
Hartz was the brain behind SoundConnect, and the impact of his work persists at every Sound medical practice active today. “We started with SoundConnect, but in the last few years, many more technology systems have been developed for our different service lines.” Sound’s startup mentality never quite went away, even as we grew to a group with hundreds of practices.
Looking ahead, Hartz is optimistic about how technology will continue to bring new efficiencies to Sound. “I think we will see a lot of changes that will be driven by AI,” he said. “For analyzing contracts and processing documents, it’s phenomenal—but I don’t want people to think that the vision involves us getting rid of people. We won’t be cutting corners, and we won’t be eliminating the human aspect of Sound.” Technological systems that support clinicians and benefit patients will be the keys to a sustainable future.
The Sound DNA
While change in any industry is inevitable, it can feel unending in the world of healthcare. From economic uncertainty to global pandemics, through it all, Sound managed to grow from a small, regional hospitalist group into a national organization. Yet to Chief People Officer Annie Fowler, who began as a recruiter at the organization in 2008, Sound’s core identity has remained remarkably intact all these years later.
“For as much as the organization has changed, it’s also stayed the same,” she said. “There is a certain DNA at Sound that seems resistant to the world around it.” The DNA she describes is upheld by Sound’s people and rooted in a shared commitment to innovation and service. “We may have renamed our values a few times, but if you go back and look, it’s the same genes.”
Fowler believes Sound’s success always comes back to its people. “These are resourceful people who take risks,” she said. “They’re bright, have ingenuity, and they care deeply about their teams.” Reflecting on the organization’s growth, Fowler recalls Sound colleague gatherings getting larger year after year, until even a hotel ballroom was bursting at the seams with individuals dedicated to elevating the acute care experience. “Our culture is a collective of all our shared values,” said Fowler.” It’s funny because people can’t really describe it, but they’ll leave and then come back because you can’t find it elsewhere.”
Fowler is thrilled to bring Sound’s culture into the future, where an aging American population will require the compassionate, complex care that’s been Sound’s specialty for decades. While technology will continue its exponential growth and AI will find more places within healthcare, Fowler remains optimistic about the necessity of the human touch with patients. “AI is never going to replace the work we do at the bedside,” she said. For Fowler, Sound’s future lies in continuing to meet communities’ needs with intentionality, expertise, and purpose.
A Sound Reflection
Looking back at the full picture of Sound, one thing is crystal clear: Sound has never been defined by where healthcare is, but by where it can go next. From a small team of four clinicians to a national organization bringing care to patients across the country, our journey has been powered by people willing to challenge convention and reimagine what the care experience can look like—for patients and clinicians alike.
Healthcare will continue to evolve, but our principles remain unchanged. We’ll continue improving care by supporting clinicians and strengthening communities. This anniversary milestone celebrates the hard work of countless colleagues, clinicians, partners, and patients who we’re grateful to have as part of our story. If the past 25 years taught us anything, it’s that the future of healthcare is the brightest when people build it together.
And we’re just getting started.