Each year, Advisory Board delivers an update on the most significant trends shaping service line strategy – identifying exactly what service line and strategy leaders should prioritize in the year ahead.

In this episode, host Rae Woods is joined by Advisory Board experts Lindsey Paul, Kristin Strubel, Gabriela Marmolejos, and Ellie Wiles to unpack the universal challenges specialties are facing as we head into 2026.

Throughout the conversation, you’ll hear how access constraints, workforce pressures, policy changes, and innovative payment models are influencing key service lines—including oncology, cardiovascular, women’s health, and neurology.

Looking for insights on a specific service line? Jump ahead using the timestamps below:

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Blood-based colorectal screening: A closer look for health plans

A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

In this special episode of Radio Advisory, recorded at 9:30 a.m. ET on Oct. 1, 2025, host Rae Woods walks through two major healthcare policy disruptions: the federal government shutdown and the Rural Health Transformation Program.

Rae explains the immediate implications for care delivery and funding as Medicare telehealth and Hospital-at-Home waivers expire and debates over ACA tax credits and Medicaid work requirements stall in Congress.

She also unpacks new guidance from CMS on the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, outlining what leaders must do to apply for funding before the November 5th deadline and best position themselves to support their rural communities.

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A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

For years, health systems have approached ambulatory care as a pipeline for inpatient volumes. But today’s health care environment calls for a new mindset—one that prioritizes ambulatory capabilities designed to drive enterprise-wide success.

Challenging this longstanding approach is just the first step.

In this episode, host Rachel (Rae) Woods welcomes Advisory Board experts Nick Hula and Lauren Woodrow to explore why the ambulatory network of the future demands getting better before getting bigger. Smart growth isn’t just about expansion—it’s about focusing on operational efficiency, breaking clinicians’ attachment to specific sites, and leveraging partnerships to unlock the full potential of ambulatory care.

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Q&A: How Optum Financial is modernizing healthcare payment delivery

[Webinar] Care variation reduction: A $100B savings opportunity

A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

Health systems know they need to pull out all the stops when it comes to improving operational efficiency, given their financial climate. That doesn’t necessarily mean they need entirely new strategies — but they do need to make the most of the tried-and-true tactics.

Care variation reduction (CVR) has been part of the operational excellence playbook for years. The opportunity for efficiency and cost savings through CVR is massive—about $100B nationally — but the vast majority of health systems have not been able to unlock its full potential.

This week, host Abby Burns invites Advisory Board provider operations expert Isis Monteiro to break down what’s getting in the way of realizing that $100B, and how leaders can start to move the needle.

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[Webinar] Care variation reduction: A $100B savings opportunity

Learn from the 100+ health system finance leaders who participated in Advisory Board's capital spending survey — and find out how health systems are making capital decisions today.

A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

Making the most of the electronic health record (EHR) is not just a win for the CIO—it’s a non-negotiable for sustaining your business, supporting your workforce and serving your patients effectively.

The EHR is a mainstay of our digital healthcare infrastructure. It’s a massive ongoing investment with the potential for enormous operational and strategic returns. But the fact is, most organizations are not reaping the kinds of returns they could be.

This week, host Abby Burns invites Advisory Board digital health and AI expert Ty Aderhold and Optum Advisory Vice Presidents of Provider Technology Carol Chouinard and Jonathan Cooper to break down the missed opportunities, and why under-leveraging the EHR now matters for an AI-enabled future.

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Want support assessing, optimizing, or converting your EMR? Get in touch with Optum Advisory’s EHR Services team. Or we can help you reach out directly. Email us at [email protected] with the subject line "Help with EHR".

Research Membership

A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

In this special episode of Radio Advisory, recorded on September 10th, 2025, host Rae Woods explains how recent federal actions led by HHS Secretary RFK Jr. are shaping vaccine policy and public health infrastructure.

As she unpacks what’s happened so far, Rae outlines the implications for vaccine access, public trust, and hospital readiness. She also offers clear guidance to health leaders: clarify your communication with staff and patients, prepare for seasonal surges, and work together to track the effects of policy shifts on the cost and quality of care.

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A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

In the past several months, the Trump administration has frozen, cancelled, or rescinded millions—even billions—of dollars in federal funding for scientific and clinical research. This is funding that flows directly from bodies like the NIH to universities, academic medical centers, and others to facilitate basic science research, translational research, public health initiatives, and more.

Frankly, many organizations did not see these cuts coming—at least not at this scale. And the impacts are likely to touch most every corner of the industry.

This week, host Abby Burns sits down with Advisory Board experts Emily Heuser and Gaby Marmolejos to dig into how these cuts are being orchestrated and the ripple effects they may cause across—and even beyond—the healthcare industry.

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Navigating healthcare’s next frontier: 5 takeaways from the CHG Healthcare Executive Summit

A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

This episode originally aired on April 15, 2025.

In times of uncertainty, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by what’s out of your control. That’s why over the next few weeks we’re revisiting three powerful conversations that remind us where to focus: on operational excellence, on what is within your control, and on the urgency to act now. Whether you're navigating workforce challenges, financial pressures, or strategic pivots, these episodes offer practical insights to help you retrench, refocus, and lead with clarity.

Let’s face it: Hospitals and post-acute providers can find themselves at odds. Post-acute is an area of the industry that is often misunderstood and sometimes villainized. But when post-acute care struggles, it directly impacts hospital operations. The industry needs a solution. It starts with understanding that the post-acute space is not a monolith. Because only by understanding how different facilities struggle—and how systems can support or partner with them—can we unlock their potential.

That’s why this week, host Abby Burns invites Advisory Board expert Monica Westhead, and Optum Advisory post-acute care expert Jennifer Skaggs to unpack the post-acute landscape and break down what effective acute-post-acute partnerships looks like. Throughout the discussion, they explore why post-acute facilities are struggling to stay afloat, and why partnering with post-acute facilities is better avenue than building or buying.

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A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

(This episode originally aired on February 25, 2025.)

In times of uncertainty, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by what’s out of your control. That’s why over the next few weeks we’re revisiting three powerful conversations that remind us where to focus: on operational excellence, on what is within your control, and on the urgency to act now. Whether you're navigating workforce challenges, financial pressures, or strategic pivots, these episodes offer practical insights to help you retrench, refocus, and lead with clarity.

We’ve said it before on Radio Advisory: hospital volumes are back. But leaders know this isn’t necessarily a sigh of relief. With a lot of hospitals at—or even over-- capacity, hospital leaders need to find ways to improve patient throughput and reduce length of stay. And trust me, they’ve been trying. The question is, why is it so hard to address capacity and length of stay, and what can leaders do about it in 2025?

This week, host Rachel (Rae) Woods is joined by Advisory Board expert Isis Monteiro. Isis shares what she learned from her “world tour” of talking with 45 healthcare leaders from nine countries to understand how they’re tackling capacity challenges. Throughout the conversation, they break down three root causes of high hospital length of stay and highlight examples of how organizations are overcoming them.

We’re here to help:

Interested in learning more about our length-of-stay reduction research? Join us live at an Advisory Board Summit and attend a dedicated session on how your organization can address foundational capacity, throughput, and length-of-stay challenges.

Check out Advisory Board’s Hospital Benchmark Generator tool to see how your hospital’s length-of-stay stacks up and pinpoint improvement opportunities for improvement to remain competitive.

(This episode originally aired on October 1, 2024.)

In times of uncertainty, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by what’s out of your control. That’s why over the next few weeks we’re revisiting three powerful conversations that remind us where to focus: on operational excellence, on what is within your control, and on the urgency to act now. Whether you're navigating workforce challenges, financial pressures, or strategic pivots, these episodes offer practical insights to help you retrench, refocus, and lead with clarity.

In the past, we’ve told our listeners that the number one area of focus for health system growth is operational excellence, and a major part of that is capturing all of the revenue on the table from your medical group. Healthcare organizations have spent the last decade buying up medical groups and physicians, in part because of the “promise” of downstream referrals. It is a long-held belief that physician employment leads to higher referral integrity. But according to an Advisory Board data analysis, that doesn’t hold true - just 55% of total referral revenue attributed to employed PCPs is realized in-network.

This week, host Rachel (Rae) Woods invites Advisory Board physician experts Eliza Dailey and Colleen Wagner to unpack where referral leakage actually happens and share the real (and relatively easy) steps organizations can take to reduce referral leakage.

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