The Journey

The U.S. Healthcare industry is finding it cannot rely on traditional methods to solve its most daunting challenges. With pressure mounting from every corner, healthcare providers are making investments in nontraditional business models and smart technologies to accelerate their transition into the consumer-driven healthcare marketplace.

Though the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ updated Star Ratings and proposed rules on hospital price and quality transparency may be clumsy, even ineffective, their intentions are clear. The largest source of revenue to hospitals in the U.S. is setting a new, much higher bar for the way hospitals and payers help patients find and...

Physicians and other clinicians represent an important and often overlooked constituency in the debate about healthcare price transparency. With rising out-of-pocket costs causing patients to avoid, delay or ration care, doctors need information about price to design treatment plans their patients will actually follow.

Most of us are familiar with the aphorism, “You have to spend money to make money”, but many health systems and hospitals have relied primarily on cost cutting to preserve deteriorating operating margins. As consumerism in healthcare continues to expand, providers must invest to improve efficiencies, engage consumers and drive growth.

Several prominent healthcare providers and investors have been featured in recent, damaging national news stories about patient billing and collection tactics. But some hospitals are learning that improved transparency and communications make it possible to partner with patients to increase revenues and burnish their reputations.

Just-published research finds that one out of every four dollars spent on healthcare in the U.S. is wasted. In a system fraught with inefficiencies, some healthcare providers are taking steps to reduce waste, improve patient experiences and brighten their financial outlook.

Online or in-person, shopping in America has been transformed by the popularity and growth of eCommerce. A similar transformation is underway in healthcare. Will you be ready?

Health systems, Hospitals and other healthcare providers are being challenged to do more with less, even as patients are seeking more convenient and affordable alternatives. Some farsighted providers are finding ways to reduce their costs and grow market share.

Deep pockets, industry expertise, meticulous research and the quest for investment gains make Private Equity a powerful force for growth and innovation in healthcare. Healthcare providers can learn a lot about the future of the industry - and their place in it - by studying Private Equity investment trends.

Consumerization in healthcare has taken a long time to gain critical mass, but newly proposed price transparency rules designed to increase hospital competition and reduce costs may force the industry to a tipping point. Though CMS’s rules fall well short of achieving their stated objectives, innovative hospitals are turning this challenge -...