Radio Advisory

Health system margins have recovered from record lows, but the median margin remains just over 1%, leaving organizations with little room for error. Sustainable margin isn't simply the biggest number an organization can generate. It's the ability to reliably fund operations, reinvest in the future, absorb unexpected shocks, and avoid destabilizing cuts.

In this episode, host Rae Woods speaks with Advisory Board experts Chelsea Needham and Clare Wirth about why leaders need to stop managing revenue cycle, workforce, operations, and growth as separate priorities and start treating them as an interconnected margin system. They explore the ripple effects of common margin initiatives, the opportunity costs behind strategic decisions, and the questions leaders should ask before approving their next financial improvement effort. Listen to learn how health system executives can build margin that is not only stronger today, but more sustainable over the long term.

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2026 Strategic Planning Survey

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

For years, healthcare leaders have debated whether the industry faces a true physician shortage or simply a physician capacity problem. But as physicians near retirement, workforce fatigue persists, and organizations struggle to recruit providers fast enough to meet growing demand, that debate is taking on new urgency.

In this episode, hosts Rae Woods and Abby Burns sit down with Advisory Board expert Daniel Kuzmanovich to revisit a prediction they made nearly a decade ago: that healthcare could avoid a physician shortage if organizations redesigned care delivery and deployed care teams differently. Together, they unpack what has changed in the physician workforce since then, why advanced practice providers may be healthcare's greatest untapped source of clinical capacity, and how leaders should balance workforce strategy, care model redesign, and AI investments as they plan for the future of care delivery.

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

While most health plans have at least begun testing AI tools to improve operational efficiency, a far smaller number have moved beyond pilot stage. The challenge is not merely adopting AI – it is deciding which processes to reimagine and which solutions merit investment; doing the work of embedding solutions in end-to-end workflows; measuring success; and, crucially, establishing the organizational alignment needed to generate value at scale.

In this episode, host Rae Woods sits down with Troy Anderson, Vice President of Payer Solutions at Optum.ai, and Sally Kim, Advisory Board health plan expert. They talk about why payment integrity and member experience are rising to the top of health plans’ priority list for deploying AI, and how regional plans can learn from larger organizations, focus on proven value, and avoid costly mistakes in the early stages of investment and deployment.

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Playlist | Explore Radio Advisory’s Tech & AI playlist for expert insights on innovation and the future of healthcare

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

Healthcare organizations may be investing in AI, but many struggle to advance use cases beyond a single specialty, site, or workflow.

At Sutter Health, leaders approached AI not as a series of technology pilots, but as a systemwide operational challenge. They set out to ensure that investments in AI centered on supporting clinicians across the enterprise before, during, and after patient visits. Today, more than 6,000 clinicians use ambient listening technology, generating more than five million clinical notes. Reaching that level of adoption required much more than selecting the right tool.

In this episode, host Rachel (Rae) Woods speaks with Dr. Veena Jones, Chief Medical Informatics Officer at Sutter Health, about what it takes to move beyond siloed experimentation and actually scale AI across an enterprise. They explore how thoughtful governance, meaningful multistakeholder feedback loops, and a “good enough to scale” mindset can turn promising technology into a sustainable capability that supports clinicians and patients.

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

Health systems across the country started calling Advisory Board with the same question: Why are our volumes down?

In this episode, Abby Burns, Clare Wirth, and Vidal Seegobin walk through what happened after our research team dug into the data to find out whether those concerns were isolated incidents or part of a broader national trend. What they found raises a much bigger question than whether volumes are down today: What if they're not coming back the way we've assumed they would?

Together, they debate the forces reshaping demand, from affordability pressures and coverage losses to site-of-care shifts and changing patient behavior. They also explore what the findings mean for health system growth strategies and why organizations may need to shift their focus from capturing volume to competing on access.

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Sponsor link: Webinar | Building financial sustainability in specialty pharmacy

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

For years, the story of ambulatory surgery centers was all about moving care out of the hospital. But the most important ASC trend today isn't growth. It's variation.

Organizations are using ambulatory surgery centers to pursue very different goals. Some view ASCs as a way to relieve inpatient capacity. Others are trying to lower costs, protect market share, recruit physicians, expand access, or create room for more complex hospital care. And those strategies can vary dramatically depending on the service line, ownership model, market dynamics, and state policy environment.

In this episode, host Rae Woods talks with Advisory Board researchers Nick Hula, Gaby Marmolejos, and Rachael Peroutky about why no two ASC strategies look exactly alike, and how healthcare leaders can determine the right role for ASCs in their market.

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Sponsor link: Webinar | Value-based care demystified

Sponsor link: Report | 4 ways health systems are pursuing lab growth

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

Protecting provider margins has never been easy. But today’s combination of policy shifts, reimbursement changes, labor pressures, and evolving care models is forcing health systems to rethink where margin comes from and how to sustain it.

In this episode, Abby Burns sits down with Optum Advisory’s Samantha Wyld and Jess Garber to explore how both sweeping policy changes and smaller regulatory updates are reshaping margin management. Through real-world examples, they unpack three areas of opportunity: pricing strategy, clinical documentation and coding, and capturing economies of scale many organizations have yet to realize. Together, they explain why yesterday’s margin playbook is no longer enough and what it takes to take a more strategic approach to financial performance.

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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 10, 2026. Dr. Omar Lateef has since announced his intention to retire from Rush Health in June 2027.)

As financial pressure mounts and the healthcare safety net continues to strain, academic medical centers are drawing on their culture of innovation to pursue better outcomes — and narrow life expectancy gaps in the communities they serve.

In this episode of Radio Advisory, host Rae Woods sits down with leaders from Rush University Medical Center to explore how health systems can stay focused on results amid tightening margins, political scrutiny, and ongoing uncertainty in grant funding.

Dr. Omar Lateef, President and CEO of Rush, and Dr. David Ansell, Senior Vice President for Community Health Equity, describe how Rush treats gap-reduction as a long-term operating strategy rather than a moral or messaging exercise. They share practical examples of how local partnerships, targeted investments, and day-to-day operational choices can improve outcomes while still making financial sense — and why avoiding battles over language helps keep the focus squarely on results.

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Sponsor link: Preserving iodine, protecting imaging

(This episode originally aired on February 3, 2026. Stay tuned towards the end of the conversation for an update on the state of pediatric hospitals midway through 2026.)

Pediatric hospitals are one of the most important segments in the industry to watch right now. Although children’s hospitals make up only 5% of total hospital market share, more than 40% of U.S. children rely on Medicaid, leaving pediatric organizations disproportionately exposed as the Medicaid-related provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act take effect.

The pressures inside pediatric care were mounting even before this moment. After years of outperforming adult hospitals, children’s hospitals have seen margins fall from double digits to just 1% last year. Rising bad debt, higher supply and labor costs, a rapid shift toward lower margin outpatient care, and emerging challenges like declining birth rates and vaccine policy upheaval have created a perfect financial storm. While some of these dynamics are unique to pediatrics, the sector also offers an early warning signal for the rest of healthcare — and an opportunity to translate lessons across both worlds.

In this episode, host Abby Burns and Advisory Board expert Vidal Seegobin break down why pediatric leaders must simultaneously manage immediate-term margin pressure, prepare for a more ambulatory-dominant model, and futureproof their organizations amid shifting demographics. Vidal also shares actionable steps leaders can take now, along with the critical lessons pediatric hospitals offer the wider healthcare ecosystem.

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Sponsor link: Q&A: How e-prescribing for vaccines may help close patient care gaps

(This episode originally aired on March 17, 2026.)

As health systems pursue growth beyond traditional avenues, the role of the strategic planner is becoming increasingly complex. High level directional data is no longer enough — achieving meaningful, differentiated growth now requires leveraging granular, sophisticated data to inform investment decisions.

In this episode, host Rachel Woods sits down with Advisory Board experts Sebastian Beckman and Ellie Wiles to explore how health systems can rethink strategic planning for 2026 and beyond. Together, they unpack what it should actually look like to democratize data, why data governance matters just as much as data access, and how service line leaders can partner with planners to make faster, more precise, margin savvy decisions.

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Sponsor link: How UCHealth lowered population-level obesity rates in their region