Yearly, Cedar brings collectively a bunch of senior healthcare finance leaders for our Monetary Management Council — a novel group the place among the most skilled CFOs and income cycle executives within the nation come collectively to talk actually about what’s working, what’s breaking, and what comes subsequent.
This 12 months, we convened almost 50 leaders from throughout the nation. And if I needed to summarize the temper in a single phrase, it could be this: realism with resolve.
Everybody within the room acknowledges how exhausting this second is. Margins are shrinking, coverage is risky, and affordability has develop into the defining stress level for sufferers and suppliers alike. But what struck me most was the shared sense of function. Regardless of all of the headwinds, these leaders are usually not simply making an attempt to outlive — they’re making an attempt to construct one thing higher.
Right here’s what we discovered.
1. Management means embracing a number of truths directly
The leaders who’re thriving in at present’s atmosphere aren’t selecting between compassion and self-discipline, or innovation and stewardship. They’re doing each.
A number of CFOs spoke candidly in regards to the pressures that make “both/or” considering tempting — shrinking margins, rising labor prices, and risky payers. When the spreadsheets don’t stability, each choice feels zero-sum. However these discovering a method ahead are being specific about these trade-offs, linking choices again to mission, and aligning groups round shared values. As one chief put it, “long-term worth follows values.”
Throughout the dialogue, executives emphasised the necessity to handle competing realities as an alternative of collapsing them into false decisions: defending margins and defending folks, automating workflows and strengthening human connection, investing in AI and supporting workforce stability. These aren’t opposing objectives — they reinforce one another.
There was additionally a way of cautious optimism in regards to the economic system. Many leaders considered AI as a deflationary drive, one that would enhance effectivity and assist construct long-term monetary sustainability. Attendees shared real-world examples, from utilizing automation to free groups for higher-value work, to reinvesting financial savings in affected person wants, and sustaining stability amid payer volatility and operational uncertainty.
The takeaway: significant progress isn’t about sweeping transformation. It’s about deliberate, measurable actions backed by leaders keen to take principled dangers — as a result of on this atmosphere, standing nonetheless is the larger gamble.
2. Success is being redefined — from transactions to belief
Previously, healthcare finance success was measured by metrics like value to gather, denial charges, or income cycle effectivity. These nonetheless matter. However essentially the most forward-thinking methods are increasing the definition of success: how effectively will we join sufferers to the care and sources they want?
Leaders described a transparent shift in mindset: belief is the brand new forex in healthcare. Monetary efficiency and affected person expertise are not separate conversations — they’re two sides of the identical equation. When sufferers don’t perceive their payments or lose belief within the system, they delay care, default on funds, and disengage fully. That erodes each inhabitants well being and monetary stability.
One-third of People nonetheless keep away from care as a result of they will’t afford it, and the common value of a household medical insurance plan is now $27,000. Finance leaders see that as a enterprise danger, not only a social one. Many are rebuilding belief by means of sensible steps — simplifying statements, bettering worth transparency, and utilizing digital communication to information sufferers by means of advanced protection choices.
Coverage instability solely heightens the urgency. With Medicaid modifications on the horizon, leaders are not ready for federal readability — partnering with group organizations, investing in eligibility automation, and deploying tech to maintain sufferers enrolled and related. Incremental, tech-driven preparation has develop into a real aggressive benefit.
AI can also be reshaping the dialog. The query is not whether or not to make use of it, however easy methods to use it responsibly. A number of leaders described utilizing agentic AI to help employees and sufferers — for instance, automating eligibility checks or suggesting subsequent finest actions — permitting groups to give attention to high-impact, human interactions as an alternative of administrative churn. It gained’t be one of the best algorithm that wins, however the organizations that use AI and know-how to deliver belief again.
3. Affordability is now a progress technique
Affordability was once a patient-experience problem. Now it’s a strategic one. Since 2010, median family earnings has grown by about 22%whereas deductibles have climbed greater than 200%. For tens of millions of People that fall into the ALICE inhabitants — Asset Restricted, Earnings Constrained, Employed — one sudden medical invoice can destabilize all the things.
Leaders spoke about affordability as a core driver of affected person loyalty, system solvency, and long-term progress, calling for a paradigm shift: transferring from methods that deal with all sufferers the identical to methods designed for particular person realities.
This subsequent chapter in healthcare finance is outlined by navigation — anticipating obstacles, providing alternate paths, and guiding sufferers towards inexpensive care earlier than a disaster happens. On this mannequin, success is determined by turning into a trusted information, serving to sufferers transfer by means of a fancy system with empathy, accuracy, and proactive help.
Some methods are already constructing digital security nets to forestall protection loss earlier than it occurs — integrating Medicaid enrollment, monetary counseling, and group help into front-end workflows. These efforts aren’t charity; they’re long-term investments in affected person retention and group well being.
The bigger shift underway is towards what many known as the Navigation Period of healthcare — one the place the system doesn’t simply react to affordability obstacles however anticipates them, guiding sufferers towards sustainable care earlier than disaster hits.
The underside line
What I took away from this 12 months’s Monetary Management Council is that healthcare finance is coming into a brand new chapter, one outlined not by cost-cutting, however by connection.
The leaders who will thrive are those that can see each side of each equation: mission and margin, empathy and effectivity, innovation and belief. They’re those constructing organizations that don’t simply survive coverage shifts and financial stress, however use them as catalysts for progress.
If this 12 months’s conversations are any indication, the way forward for healthcare finance gained’t be determined by who can do extra with much less — will probably be formed by who can do extra for folks.
Creator bio:
Florian Otto, MD, PhD, Co-founder and Chief Government Officer, Cedar
An completed entrepreneur and former doctor, Florian now drives progress and units total route throughout all aspects of Cedar’s operations. Previous to founding Cedar, Florian was an govt at Zocdoc the place he drove the business adoption of the platform. Florian additionally based a every day deal firm in Brazil (ClubeUrbano) that was finally acquired by Groupon. After the acquisition, he grew to become Chief Government Officer of Groupon Brazil, rising the corporate to one in all Groupon’s prime three worldwide markets. Florian started his enterprise profession as a technique marketing consultant at McKinsey & Firm inside their healthcare observe. Florian holds a M.D., D.D.S. and PhD from the College of Freiburg, Germany.
Photograph: Sergey Khakimullin, Getty Pictures
