Treatments like cell and gene therapies (CGTs) and GLP-1s are transforming care, but with double-digit growth in drug spend year over year, this transformation comes with an unsustainable price tag. And it’s putting pressure on every part of the healthcare ecosystem, from patients and providers to employers and health plans.

The strategies that purchasers have used to manage drug spend in the past are no longer getting the job done. But when our Advisory Board experts set out to find the innovators creating new ways to rein in spend, they came up empty. Purchasers appear to be stuck in a “wait and see” pattern—but no silver bullets are coming.

This week, host Abby Burns invites Advisory Board experts Chloe Bakst, Aaron Hill, and Amanda Okaka to discuss the drivers behind rising drug costs and why traditional cost-saving strategies are falling short. They provide actionable guidance on how purchasers and plans can modernize their approach to utilization management and make moves toward integrating pharmacy and medical benefits in order to manage total cost of care—in other words, move toward value.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

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Survey insights: What to know about the clinician workforce today

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

On July 4th, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law. In this “minisode,” host Rachel (Rae) Woods unpacks the sweeping implications of the most significant healthcare legislation since the Affordable Care Act.

From enhanced subsidies expiring to major cuts to Medicaid and ACA marketplace coverage on the horizon, Rae explores what this legislation means for providers, payers, and the broader healthcare ecosystem. Listen to this short policy update for strategic steps leaders must take to manage the cascading impacts of the Act’s implementation.

This episode was recorded on July 7th, 2025.

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

In this special live episode from the 2025 Advisory Board Summit, host Rachel (Rae) Woods sits down with a leader well-versed in bold transformation: Paul Markovich. After more than a decade as President and CEO of Blue Shield of California, Paul now leads Ascendiun—a new nonprofit parent company that includes Blue Shield of California, its clinical services firm Altais, and the newly launched health services business, Stellarus.

Together, they explore the mounting pressures facing health plans and the bold bets Paul has made in pursuit of a powerful mission: to eagerly create a healthcare system that is worthy of friends and family—and sustainably affordable. Upholding that mission while navigating constant disruption is no easy feat. In this episode, you’ll learn:

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Advisory Board Fellowship

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

Healthcare executives are closely watching legislative activity in Congress—anticipating shifts in government-funded insurance, new economic headwinds, and regulatory changes. And while change is certainly coming, what remains uncertain is how these forces will shape market dynamics and organizational finances.

To help hospitals and health systems prepare, Advisory Board’s quantitative experts developed an impact estimator to size the financial impact of Congress’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’.

This week, host Abby Burns invites Advisory Board experts Sebastian Beckmann, Deeksha Aleti, and Vidal Seegobin to share the scenario planning tool and explore the range of potential outcomes—from moderate disruption to catastrophic margin impact.

Together, they explain how leaders can predict the total impact on their organizations, break down how specific policies will shift their finances (and when), and offer actionable strategies leaders can take today to mitigate risk and plan effectively.

We’re here to help:

4 ways to improve site-of-care transitions for sickle cell patients

How VCU built an ‘inescapable’ Adult Sickle Cell Medical Home to improve inpatient to outpatient transitions of care

4 keys to success in the New England Sickle Cell Institute’s outpatient program for adult sickle cell patients

Get in touch to learn more about Advisory Board's Policy Scenario Impact Calculator and other tools

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

When experts warn that the economy could be headed for a recession, people working across different corners of the economy get nervous. People working in healthcare, maybe less so. That’s because of a longstanding idea that healthcare is impervious to recession. Okay, maybe that’s overstating it. Healthcare is less susceptible than other industries. But did this notion hold up during the pandemic? During the Great Recession? More importantly, will it hold up now?

This week on Radio Advisory, host Rachel (Rae) Woods invites Advisory Board Research Vice Presidents Shay Pratt and Vidal Seegobin to debate the question: Is healthcare really recession-proof? We are not economists, we are healthcare experts. So throughout the conversation, they reflect on how past dislocations affected the healthcare industry, and what leaders can—and can’t—learn from these events to help them interpret the current turbulence.

Plus, stay tuned to the end of the episode for a policy update on the ripple effects of Secretary Kennedy’s recent shakeup of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee.

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Additional resources related to the Advisory Committee on Immunization practices:

4 ways to improve site-of-care transitions for sickle cell patients

How VCU built an 'inescapable' Adult Sickle Cell Medical Home to improve inpatient to outpatient transitions of care

4 keys to success in the New England Sickle Cell Institute's outpatient program for adult sickle cell patients

Health policy playlist

Modeling Reemergence of Vaccine-Eliminated Infectious Diseases Under Declining Vaccination in the US | Infectious Diseases | JAMA | JAMA Network

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

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to generate excitement across healthcare, promising to reduce clinician burnout, fuel innovation, and ease financial pressures. But despite the hype, AI is far from a “plug-and-play” solution—and simply investing in AI won’t guarantee success.

This week, host Rachel (Rae) Woods is joined by Advisory Board AI expert Ty Aderhold to explore what it really takes to see value from AI in healthcare. Together, they unpack:

Instead of chasing the latest tech trend, leaders should take a problem-first approach—investing in the right governance, expertise, and evaluation to ensure AI solutions are aligned with their organization’s needs.

Links:

Radio Advisory Tech & AI playlist

Survey insights: What to know about the clinician workforce today

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

Stay tuned to the end of the episode for a policy update on the bill containing Medicaid cuts that is making its way through Congress, and the recent MAHA Commission Report.

If you were to ask any healthcare leader what the top challenges in our industry are, it’s a fair bet that “improving patient access to care” would be on the list. There have been so many investments made in the industry to improve access—especially since the Covid-19 pandemic.

With this level of investment, we should be moving the needle. But the data shows that access is not getting better, and in some cases, it’s getting worse.

This week, Advisory Board physician and medical group expert Mahaya Walker joins host Abby Burns to unpack why, and what medical groups can do about it. They break down Advisory Board research findings around how a narrow focus on improving appointment availability may actually be hurting efforts to improve access, and how medical groups can move the needle on access by putting clinicians closer to the center of their access strategies.

Links:

4 ways to improve site-of-care transitions for sickle cell patients

How VCU built an ‘inescapable’ Adult Sickle Cell Medical Home to improve inpatient to outpatient transitions of care

4 keys to success in the New England Sickle Cell Institute’s outpatient program for adult sickle cell patients

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

In this special live episode from the 2025 Advisory Board Summit, Ardent Health Services President & CEO Marty Bonick and Chief Digital and Transformation Officer Anika Gardenhire recount the harrowing story of a ransomware attack that brought their 30-hospital system to a standstill on Thanksgiving Day 2023.

Cyberattacks on healthcare systems are becoming more frequent, more sophisticated, and more devastating. Just 60 days into her role, Anika led the charge to contain the breach, extract the threat, and recover operations in a record-setting 12 days. From ransom messages appearing on medical devices to disconnecting their entire system from the internet, this episode explores what it takes to lead through crisis, act decisively, and build true cyber resilience.

This candid conversation underscores why leaders must embrace transparency even when sharing worst-case scenarios. Because learning from difficult moments is how health leaders build stronger, more resilient systems.

Links:

Radio Advisory’s Tech and AI playlist

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

5/22 Update: The House early Thursday narrowly passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a budget bill that includes a number of healthcare provisions that could have a significant impact on Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act.

It has been over 100 days since President Donald Trump began his second term. During that time, Radio Advisory has received a steady stream of questions from leaders seeking guidance in an uncertain policy and business environment. With looming funding cuts, the restructure of HHS, the arrival of DOGE and MAHA, and more, leaders are grappling with what to focus on, how to respond, and how to engage productively with the federal government.

To help answer these questions, Radio Advisory turned to policy experts from both parties to address your questions, acknowledge your anxieties, and highlight shared opportunities.

This week, host Rachel (Rae) Woods welcomes Liz Fowler, former director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation under the Biden Administration, and Eric Hargan, former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services during the first Trump term. Together, they discuss how to navigate the shifting policies and priorities of the Trump administration’s second term.

Plus, stay tuned to the end of the episode, where co-host Abby Burns discusses the bill proposed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $600 billion over the next ten years.

Links:

Listen to Radio Advisory’s Health Policy playlist

Subscribe to Advisory Board’s Daily Briefing newsletter and get the most important industry news in your inbox – every day.

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

Believe it or not, 60% of healthcare payments in the US are tied to value. But it’s still surprisingly hard to find examples of health systems that have been doing VBC at scale, successfully, over time. So that’s what Advisory Board researchers set out to do. And across 66 conversations with 44 systems, we found four systems with approaches worth emulating. This week, we’re unpacking the approach at one of those systems: Advocate Health.

Host Abby Burns sits down with Don Calcagno, Chief Population Health Officer and President of Advocate’s largest clinically integrated network, Advocate Physician Partners. Don lays out how putting operations at the center has led Advocate to become one of the top-performing systems in Medicare risk models, generate millions of dollars in savings, and, most importantly, improve quality of care. Not to mention, juggle over 100 VBC contracts across 13 accountable care organizations and clinically integrated networks, and carry $1 billion in capitated risk.

Links:

VBC success is possible. Here’s how.

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