The place 74 well being system leaders are centered to arrange for 2025

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As a part of an ongoing collection, Becker’s is speaking to healthcare leaders who will communicate at our convention. The next are solutions from our audio system on the occasion.

Query: What are the highest headwinds you are making ready for in 2025?

Marty Sargeant. CEO of Keck Drugs of USC (Los Angeles): 

1. Uncertainty at nationwide stage
2. Continued erosion of margins essential to fund: tech connectivity to at dwelling care and key labor pressure: specialists and superior suppliers
3. Price of capability

Uncertainty about legislative and government motion on the federal stage is high of thoughts for many healthcare leaders. Keck Medical Heart will climate any storm by staying true to our mission, imaginative and prescient and strategic course with a significant emphasis on investments in our present and future workforce. With teamwork and unity, we really feel strongly about future successes.

The continued problem, nonetheless, is razor-thin margins. Non-profit hospital working margins nationally are hovering round 4% and are projected to remain low in 2025. Reimbursement will increase will not be protecting tempo with will increase in labor and provide prices. Discovering assets for strategic investments, particularly expertise, has change into more and more tough and isn’t more likely to ease in 2025. Regardless of these challenges, the medical heart has remained financially robust and is investing strategically in assets for our tertiary/quaternary sufferers, who comprise nearly all of our affected person inhabitants.

Shelly Schorer. CFO of California Division at CommonSpirit Well being (Chicago): As we put together for the highest headwinds in 2025, we anticipate important challenges associated to value containment and income cycle administration. We are going to handle rising inflationary prices by way of a rigorous method to our expense administration. Concurrently, we’ll strengthen our income seize capabilities by optimizing billing processes, enhancing collections, and fostering robust relationships with payers.

Cliff A. Megerian, MD. CEO and Jane and Henry Meyer CEO Distinguished Chair at College Hospitals (Cleveland): One in every of our priorities is to work with the brand new administration, in addition to our new state and native policymakers, to deal with the realities healthcare suppliers face. We should foster collaboration with policymakers to help sustainable healthcare supply. Making certain truthful and immediate reimbursement for our providers is crucial. This isn’t only a monetary difficulty — it’s about sustaining care requirements, investing in innovation, and supporting our workforce. As well as, technological developments are remodeling care supply. Embracing improvements like telemedicine and AI is crucial, however we should additionally safeguard towards cybersecurity dangers. Affected person belief relies on it.

Craig Kent, MD. CEO of UVA Well being; Government Vice President of Well being Affairs on the College of Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.): All through 2024, UVA Well being has exceeded regional and nationwide retention benchmarks, and we really feel assured in assembly our present scientific calls for — whilst affected person volumes have grown dramatically. As we sit up for 2025, we stay centered on sustaining this momentum throughout a interval of exceptional progress and rising demand for UVA Well being’s knowledgeable care. Over the previous 5 years, our well being system has skilled a 54% rise within the variety of distinctive sufferers searching for its providers. Since 2019, surgical procedures have elevated by 65%, hospital admissions have risen by 62%, and emergency division visits have quadrupled. 

Even when we’re well-staffed at the moment, we acknowledge that sustaining this trajectory requires a steadfast dedication to recruiting, coaching, and retaining a extremely expert workforce. To help these efforts, we’re increasing progressive workforce methods, together with packages like Earn Whereas You Be taught, enhancing retention by way of aggressive compensation and advantages, and fostering profession and management growth by way of initiatives just like the Well being Management Institute. Collectively, these efforts guarantee we’re ready to satisfy the wants of our sufferers at the moment and into the long run.

Marschall Runge, MD, PhD. Dean on the College of Michigan Medical Faculty (Ann Arbor); Government Vice President of Medical Affairs at College of Michigan; CEO of Michigan Drugs: Healthcare in 2025 faces unprecedented challenges, probably the most important in my 40-year profession. Two key points stand out: 1) Price pressures will dominate, with scrutiny on care fashions, high-cost medication, and potential provide chain disruptions.; 2) AI-enabled care holds transformative potential, however success relies on gradual adoption somewhat than dashing in. These shifts are complicated and demand considerate navigation — no easy fixes apply.

Robert Corona, DO, MBA. John B. Henry Professor of Pathology, SUNY Upstate Medical College (Syracuse, N.Y.); CEO of SUNY Upstate Medical College Hospital: Our main headwinds are associated to capability…each inpatient and ambulatory. Additionally we’re struggling to recruit specialists in anesthesia, radiology and pediatric subspecialties. We proceed to show away roughly 7,500 switch requests per yr. We function our hospitals (together with our kids’s hospital) at 110% capability more often than not with some days reaching 120% capability. Our emergency division quantity and ambulance visits are rising yr by yr. We frequently have 35-40 admitted ‘boarders’ in our ED at anyone time. We’re working to handle by way of by rising our ambulatory entry, telehealth and cellular well being choices. We’re additionally utilizing new applied sciences to enhance our throughput and working room efficiencies.

Peter Banko. President and CEO of Baystate Well being (Springfield, Mass.): In Western Massachusetts, Medicare and Medicaid might be a big and rising share of our neighborhood and affected person base. These populations are already greater than 70% of our income, with rising value-based preparations and the crucial to leverage very numerous care groups (physicians, nurses, navigators, and members of the family enabled by complicated expertise options). Care mannequin transformation requires Baystate Well being to affect 4 mutually reinforcing, built-in elements — care providing, design goal, supply assets, and care design.

Pranavi Sreeramoju, MD. Former Vice President and Chief High quality Officer of Jefferson Well being (Philadelphia): As we look forward to 2025, a number of key challenges within the areas of high quality, security, and affected person expertise will form the healthcare panorama. These embody management transitions, monetary constraints confronted by well being techniques, and the evolving dynamics of affected person belief. Well being techniques might want to adapt to important modifications proposed by the incoming authorities, notably in relation to Medicare, Medicaid, and market packages. Any changes to those packages are more likely to have a direct affect on each well being outcomes and affected person satisfaction.

One rising concern is the rising variety of sufferers opting to say no beneficial vaccines. This development, if it continues, might have critical implications for vaccine uptake and the prevention of vaccine-preventable infections, warranting shut monitoring. Moreover, public belief in drugs and science is more and more fragile, as sufferers wrestle to tell apart between credible data and misinformation. Sustaining and rebuilding this belief might be important to making sure optimistic well being outcomes and efficient affected person care within the years forward.

Nicholas Nussbaum, MD. Director of Medical Affairs and Neighborhood Companies, Adams Medical Group at Adams Well being Community (Decatur, Ind.): One substantial headwind that’s in all probability not a part of most organizations’ planning for 2025 is a decreased utilization of what I consult with as “deferrable/delayable, even when not avoidable” providers. These can be issues like routine labs for power diseases, routine mammograms/colonoscopies, and even some surgical procedures reminiscent of joint replacements. This isn’t more likely to be a system-driven lower in utilization alongside the strains of 2020-21, that is more likely to parallel the squeeze of 2008-10.  

For the report, that’s not a prediction for a monetary disaster and/or market meltdown — I am not an economist, and albeit, historical past would counsel that even economists are horrible at such predictions.  I’m referring to the truth that, in most components of the nation, from 2008-10, many sufferers averted any/all medical providers that they felt they may with out struggling a direct destructive end result.  This was pushed by a handful of views on their half, together with however not restricted to:

1. Financial uncertainty, and a eager want to keep away from any value attainable.
2. Employment uncertainty, and an unwillingness to overlook work because of this (i.e., “I have to work whereas I can,” or “I do not need to give my employer an excuse to fireplace me,” and so on.).
3. Lack of belief of their insurance coverage protection and/or firm to cowl even objects that must be 100% lined reminiscent of preventive care, not to mention objects topic to deductibles, copays, coinsurance, and so on.

The inflationary atmosphere of the previous few years has already introduced difficulty #1 again into play, and I hear it from sufferers each day. Anybody following present occasions is aware of that #3 is entrance and heart in every single place. The one ingredient lacking has been #2, because the labor market has remained comparatively strong. Nevertheless, the wheel at all times turns, and anticipating some softening of the labor market in 2025 is hardly an outlandish prediction. On condition that I don’t anticipate #1 or #3 to enhance considerably within the subsequent calendar yr, I feel we are able to anticipate a softening of demand for “deferrable and/or delayable” providers in direct proportion to any downturn within the employment market.

John Goodnow. CEO of Benefis Well being System (Nice Falls, Mont.): High headwinds for 2025 at BHS: The problem of remaining financially viable when your fee will increase are far, far lower than your inflation in the price of doing enterprise

At Benefis Well being System over 75% of our sufferers are governmental payers, primarily Medicare and Medicaid but additionally Indian Well being Companies (Native American reservations) and Tri-Care (navy base).

Having that top of a share of governmental payers (and that low of a share of business payers – roughly 20% at BHS) clearly makes the BHS monetary image far more difficult when in comparison with hospitals/well being techniques with increased percentages of business payers.

And, that ongoing downside will get additional compounded when governmental fee will increase are a lot lower than the inflation in our value of doing enterprise, as was the case in 2024, and as may also be the case for 2025. CMS fee will increase for hospital inpatient and outpatient providers are solely 2.9% for 2025 (far lower than our value will increase). To make issues worse, CMS coupled that with a proposed 2.83% fee lower for doctor funds (and the big majority of our physicians are employed). Additional, business insurers are very a lot pushing again towards fee will increase, which additional complicates the monetary problem. A reasonably ugly image.

 For instance of how quickly our prices have escalated just lately, from 2023 to 2024 our:

• Wage and wage prices elevated 7.2%
• Advantages prices elevated 6.7%
• And, once you add in contract (vacationers, locums) labor, our general staffing prices elevated by 13.3%

And we, like everybody else, have additionally skilled important inflation for non-staffing prices as effectively.

So, our high headwinds for 2025 are monetary.

Sean Fadale, FACHE. President and CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Residence (Gloversville, N.Y.): Workforce – recruitment and retention of each scientific and help workers in addition to suppliers has been on the high of our checklist for the previous a number of years. 

Fiscal viability – as our value of doing enterprise has escalated dramatically, from provide prices, to the price of employment has led to an atmosphere when prices are significantly exceeding our revenues.  Couple this with payer challenges that negatively affect our income cycle. It creates an unsustainable atmosphere to function and it’s crucial we discover methods to attain higher monetary efficiency sooner or later.

Christine Larson, RN, BSN. Vice President of Medical Group Operations, North Wisconsin Space at Advocate Well being (Charlotte, N.C.): The highest headwinds I’m anticipating for 2025 embody (in no specific order):

1. Maintaining with expertise and AI wants might be a monetary stress on the working margin for many/all well being techniques, but noting the significance from a work-life steadiness and effectivity perspective. 
2. Continued emphasis on value-based care, well being fairness, and entry metrics may have the well being techniques scrambling to search out distinctive and progressive methods to mannequin care supply and rethink how /the place care is delivered. 
3. Senior management turnover tendencies together with mergers/acquisitions will destabilize many well being techniques  all through 2025 doubtlessly. 
4. The sharing of healthcare associated misinformation and social media affect on healthcare selections. 
5. The scary tendencies associated to maternity care supply cessation in rural areas and the huge closures of outpatient pharmacies in rural communities and concrete areas. 

Michael Dolan, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Gundersen Area at Bellin and Gundersen Well being System (La Crosse, Wis.): I feel one of many tough points we’re anticipating for 2025 is a unbroken scarcity of workers for the extent of affected person demand we’re experiencing.  Whereas we made some enhancements in 2024, that is particularly crucial in sure doctor areas. Because of this, we proceed to want help for doctor staffing providers to assist us meet the demand. 

Dani Hackner, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Southcoast Well being System (New Bedford, Mass.): At Southcoast Well being, towards headwinds of supplier shortages in healthcare in addition to disruptions within the for-profit healthcare areas, we’re working diligently in neighborhood, not-for-profit care to enhance affected person entry, enhance collaboration amongst suppliers and workers, and to maintain compassion on the fore. Regardless of these headwinds, we’ve been capable of enhance specialty and first care entry by way of recruitment, workflow efficiencies, and multidisciplinary groups. With different neighborhood suppliers we’ve leveraged our open medical workers mannequin to accomplice in areas reminiscent of neighboring teams and techniques, federally certified healthcare facilities, county-based public well being, and even instructing and coaching. Our focus is on high quality and empathy and the way you exhibit each within the care area helps to construct resilience and overcome limitations. We consider the long run for healthcare is wholesome competitors to drive high quality, collaboration, and compassion.  

Lisa Hudnall. Government Director of Individuals Operations at UVA Physicians Group (Charlottesville, Va.): As an HR Skilled in Healthcare, we foresee just a few headwinds within the upcoming yr.

1. Staffing Shortages: The healthcare trade is projected to expertise substantial deficits in crucial roles. As an example, the American School of Nursing anticipates a scarcity of over 78,000 registered nurses by 2025, with a further want for 29,200 superior observe registered nurses by 2032. Equally, a scarcity of over 130,000 physicians is predicted throughout the identical timeframe.

2. Worker Retention and Engagement: Retaining expert healthcare professionals is changing into more and more difficult. Elements reminiscent of burnout, particularly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, contribute to excessive turnover charges.

3. Evolving Worker Expectations: Healthcare employees are searching for extra than simply employment; they want profession progress, stability, and autonomy. We, as an HR division should adapt by providing versatile work insurance policies, superior collaboration instruments, and initiatives that foster a way of belonging.

4. Technological Integration: The speedy development of expertise, together with AI and telehealth, requires HR to make sure that workers are adequately skilled and may adapt to new instruments and techniques.

 Addressing these challenges would require progressive methods, reminiscent of:

• Implementing complete workforce planning to anticipate and mitigate staffing shortages.
• Enhancing worker engagement by way of profession growth alternatives and wellness packages.
• Leveraging expertise to streamline HR processes and help distant or versatile working preparations.
• Making certain steady training and coaching to maintain tempo with technological and regulatory modifications.

Jim Whitfill, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer of HonorHealth (Scottsdale, Ariz.): We proceed to see a rigidity between continued progress in our market that’s driving elevated demand for well being providers at a time when margins stay very tight. This places elevated stress on our workers who’re making an attempt to help this progress with out including FTEs. As well as, regardless of many distributors promising breakthroughs with AI, we’ve but to see many actual world impacts that justify the investments past one to 2 examples.

Ben Goodstein, MBA. Vice President and Chief Ambulatory Officer of Dayton (Ohio) Kids’s Hospital: At Dayton Kids’s, we’re making ready for a number of important challenges in 2025, every requiring considerate methods and proactive management to mitigate their affect. These embody:

1. Workforce Retention and Recruitment
   The competitors for healthcare expertise stays fierce, and retaining expert workers and suppliers is crucial to sustaining our excessive requirements of care. Addressing burnout, enhancing engagement, and creating pathways for skilled progress might be central to our efforts. We’re dedicated to fostering a supportive and inclusive office tradition whereas providing aggressive advantages and alternatives for development.
2. Enhancing Affected person Entry to Specialty Care
   Demand for pediatric specialty providers continues to develop, but capability limitations and logistical limitations persist. We’re actively addressing these challenges by optimizing scheduling processes, increasing supplier capability, and exploring partnerships to cut back wait occasions and improve service availability, making certain well timed look after the kids who want us most.
3. Psychological Well being Companies Enlargement
   The psychological well being disaster amongst youngsters and adolescents stays a high precedence, however it’s met with systemic challenges, together with restricted assets, rising affected person volumes, and the complexity of coordinating care. We’re centered on increasing our behavioral well being packages, enhancing disaster administration capabilities, and integrating psychological well being providers inside our major and specialty care settings to satisfy this crucial want.
4. Aligning Major Care Networks
   Aligning major care networks to create a seamless continuum of look after our sufferers is crucial, however this requires important collaboration and coordination with exterior suppliers and neighborhood companions. We’re addressing this headwind by constructing stronger partnerships, standardizing care supply fashions, and leveraging expertise to enhance communication and affected person outcomes.
5. Monetary and Operational Pressures
   Rising operational prices, reimbursement challenges, and uncertainties in healthcare coverage pose ongoing monetary pressures. We’re centered on driving effectivity by way of course of enchancment, maximizing ROI on present investments, and exploring progressive income streams to make sure long-term monetary stability.
6. Technological and Infrastructure Development
   The rising demand for digital well being options (together with AI) and modernized infrastructure introduces the problem of balancing speedy adoption with seamless integration into current techniques. Our focus might be on advancing telehealth, enhancing affected person portals, and modernizing amenities to align with evolving affected person and supplier expectations.

These headwinds, whereas difficult, additionally current alternatives to innovate, strengthen our group, and additional our mission to enhance the well being of youngsters in our neighborhood. By way of strategic planning, collaboration, and a relentless give attention to our priorities, we goal to not solely navigate these challenges however emerge stronger and extra able to delivering distinctive look after the kids we serve.

Pooja Vyas, DO. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Christian Hospital Northeast & Northwest Healthcare (St. Louis): Getting ready for doctor recruitment and workers onboarding. We’re additionally specializing in sustaining our affected person security and high quality metrics, together with our tradition of security and inclusion.

Matt Morton. Government Director and Chief Info Safety Officer of College of Chicago: The highest headwinds for 2025 revolve round managing the rising complexity of AI-driven threats, the speedy evolution of laws surrounding AI and information privateness, and the problem of securing hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The combination of generative AI into operations and its potential misuse would require strong monitoring and governance. Moreover, expertise shortages in cybersecurity and the necessity to steadiness innovation with operational safety will stay urgent points. Getting ready for these challenges requires adaptive methods, robust partnerships, and funding in automation and superior menace intelligence capabilities.

Stephen Rinaldi. Senior Vice President and Chief Income Officer of College of North Carolina Well being Care System (Chapel Hill): Whereas we face rising prices for labor and provides, reimbursement charges haven’t modified to satisfy these ongoing pressures. Particularly, Medicare Benefit stays a major headwind as plan sponsors constantly reimburse at charges decrease than conventional price for service Medicare. Within the coming yr, we’ll proceed to work with our payer companions to make sure we’ve agreements that correctly take into account future inflation and efficiency targets. We should additionally do our half to embrace innovation, expertise, and the numerous instruments at our disposal to be as environment friendly as attainable whereas delivering the standard care our sufferers anticipate and deserve.

Marc Perkins-Carrillo, MSN, RN. Chief Nursing Informatics Officer of Moffitt Most cancers Heart (Tampa, Fla.): Because the CNIO and director of scientific informatics, I anticipate a number of important challenges in 2025. The speedy tempo of technological developments, notably in areas reminiscent of Gen AI and digital entrance door initiatives, presents each substantial alternatives and complicated challenges. These applied sciences demand meticulous planning, strategic implementation, and steady evolution to combine seamlessly into our healthcare techniques and enhance outcomes in affected person care.

Regulatory and coverage modifications additionally characterize a substantial hurdle. The evolving panorama of healthcare laws and insurance policies requires vigilant navigation. Getting ready for potential coverage shifts and making certain compliance with new laws might be important to take care of operational effectivity and stop disruptions. This may contain staying abreast of legislative developments and actively partaking in coverage discussions to advocate for favorable outcomes.

Monetary sustainability is one other crucial difficulty we should handle. Attaining long-term monetary stability for healthcare organizations will necessitate strategic planning and environment friendly useful resource allocation. This consists of optimizing our budgetary practices, exploring progressive funding alternatives, and implementing cost-saving measures with out compromising the standard of care.

Andrew Buffenbarger, EdD. Chief Compliance Officer of Kirby Medical Heart (Monticello, Ailing.): We’re making ready for progress in just a few service strains over the approaching three years, so 2025 is concentrated on building and strategic planning.

Gian Varbaro, MD. Vice President of Ambulatory Companies and Chief Medical Officer at Bergen New Bridge Medical Heart (Paramus, N.J.): I feel the payer atmosphere would be the high headwind in 2025. Each lowering reimbursement as there’s a larger motion to Medicare Benefit mixed with the potential for decreased Medicaid funding is regarding for a security web hospital like ours. We might be trying to begin new packages and diversify our sufferers and packages as a way to counter this, nevertheless it needs to be forefront in our pondering.

Dave Alexander, MBA. CFO of Penn Drugs at Residence (Philadelphia): The Residence Infusion, Residence Well being and Residence Hospice trade is going through a number of important headwinds in 2025. Listed here are few:

1. Regulatory and Fee Pressures – in Residence Well being associated to the growth of worth primarily based buying and digital go to verification, which is able to place elevated scrutiny over high quality and outcomes, requiring investments in compliance and analytics. In Residence Infusion, potential modifications to 340B program might make therapies much less reasonably priced and result in fewer sufferers being served.
2. Shifts in Payer Dynamics – as Medicare Benefit continues to develop its market share, at dwelling suppliers should navigate more and more stringent prior authorization necessities and negotiate with aggressive payers.
3. Labor Constraints – a persistent scarcity of expert nurses and therapists, coupled with competitors from higher-paying healthcare settings, is more likely to proceed to pressure staffing capability and exasperate wage fee pressures.
4. Demographic and Demand Pressures – labor constraints might prohibit our skill to satisfy the rising demand for at dwelling healthcare providers.
5. Aggressive Threats – from investments by giant nationwide payers within the dwelling well being trade represents important aggressive threats. These payers are leveraging their expansive assets, built-in fashions, and data- pushed capabilities.

Vi-Anne Antrum. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Cone Well being (Greensboro, N.C): A number of the high headwinds we face at Cone Well being embody inflation in bills, like labor, provides, and prescribed drugs which are outpacing reimbursement, the warfare for expertise stays swift, and our state is contemplating the removing of CON protections. There will not be sufficient neighborhood primarily based assets to look after our strictly behavioral and IDD populations. Our well being system is one a part of the equation and partnership is required from quite a lot of stakeholders to collectively remedy these points. I do know that we’re stronger collectively once we accomplice with our neighborhood, policymakers, and payers to serve these counting on us. We may have the additional advantage of being a part of Risant Well being in 2025 and I’m enthusiastic about that! These headwinds will not be distinctive to Cone Well being and lots of not-for-profit well being techniques are going through related conditions.

Sowmya Viswanathan. Chief Doctor Government of BayCare Well being System (Clearwater, Fla.): At BayCare Well being System, we’re excited to welcome a brand new yr! As a part of BayCare’s ongoing dedication, we might be increasing our tutorial give attention to graduate medical training (GME) and analysis. This may embody including greater than 650 residents by 2029. This takes a complete staff effort to recruit and keep world-class physicians who might be instructing the following era of medical doctors. BayCare will proceed to navigate the nationwide doctor shortages and different headwinds together with doctor integration and alignment methods.

BayCare Well being System is West Central Florida’s main supplier on the forefront of scientific innovation.

Darrell Bodnar. CIO of North Nation Healthcare (Whitefield, N.H.): As CIO of North Nation Healthcare, I’m centered on a number of key challenges as we head into 2025. One of many largest is ensuring we’re getting probably the most out of our expertise investments. This consists of enhancing EHR usability, rolling out instruments like ambient voice expertise, and supporting workers to combine these options into their workflows. We’re additionally taking a look at how AI may help us work smarter — whether or not it’s by way of higher scientific resolution help, monetary modeling, or enhancing operations.

Monetary sustainability is one other main focus. Managing vendor efficiency and serving to our groups use instruments and data to make higher monetary selections might be crucial as we transfer into 2025. Lastly, I’m main a tradition change initiative to raised align our groups with our targets as a system. This implies encouraging collaboration, enhancing communication, and serving to leaders and workers join with our shared imaginative and prescient. These efforts will place us to satisfy the challenges forward and maintain shifting ahead in addition to to have the ability to pivot to the modifications which are certain to return in 2025. It’s at all times an thrilling time to be in healthcare!!

Invoice Pack. CFO of Conway (Ark.) Regional Well being System: Hospitals face quite a lot of headwinds as they put together for 2025, a lot of which stem from ongoing challenges in healthcare supply, finance, and workforce administration.

Key challenges embody:

Monetary Pressures

• Reimbursement challenges: Declining Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, coupled with shifts towards value-based care, create monetary uncertainty.
• Price inflation: Rising bills for labor, provides, and prescribed drugs outpacing income progress, tightening margins.

Regulatory and compliance/IT safety

• CMS and payer mandates: Adapting to modifications in federal laws, reminiscent of high quality reporting necessities and interoperability requirements.
• Cybersecurity: Compliance with stricter information safety legal guidelines and managing the danger of ransomware assaults.

Shifts in Care Supply Fashions

• Outpatient and care: The migration of care to outpatient settings, particularly surgical procedures as soon as finished as inpatient leading to the identical value, however decrease reimbursement.

Hospitals, like Conway Regional Well being System, should strategically navigate these headwinds, balancing fast challenges with long-term planning for sustainability and progress.

Chad Konchak. System Assistant Vice President of Information Analytics at Endeavor Well being (Evanston, Ailing.): Because the chief of analytics for a big built-in healthcare supply system I’m very excited for the following yr, nonetheless, we do face some important challenges. One main headwind is the combination of numerous information sources, because the crucial information we have to reply complicated questions or construct significant metrics / analytics instruments usually resides in fragmented techniques which are tough to combine. That is very true for Endeavor Well being that’s nonetheless early in our journey to combine the three legacy EMR platforms right into a single occasion. The opposite main hurdle is navigating the tempo of development round AI and making certain that my workers has the time to upskill and help these new initiatives and we’re supporting the coaching, governance, and educating for all our impacted workers round this thrilling new area.

Girish N. Nadkarni, MD. Director, The Charles Bronfman Institute of Personalised Drugs and System Chief of Division of Information-Pushed and Digital Drugs (D3M), The Irene and Dr. Arthur Fishberg Professor of Drugs at The Icahn Faculty of Drugs, Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Well being System (New York Metropolis): The highest headwinds I’m making ready for in 2025

• Navigating the quickly evolving regulatory panorama for AI in healthcare, notably round its moral use and integration into scientific workflows.
• Addressing clinician burnout whereas making certain expertise adoption stays user-centric is crucial.
• Making certain equitable entry to AI-driven improvements throughout numerous affected person populations might be a key focus, as disparities might widen if not proactively addressed.

William Munley. Market Administrator of Southeast Administration at Shriner’s Kids’s (Greenville, S.C.): At Shriners Kids’s Greenville, we aren’t making ready for headwinds in 2025; somewhat, we’re planning on using a powerful tailwind into the brand new yr.

We simply carried out a brand new, dynamic strategic plan, and we’re very excited in regards to the future.

We’re centered on offering one of the best pediatric orthopedic care to extra youngsters in the proper locations with extra worth. To do that, we’re setting our advertising and marketing methods round 4 areas: consciousness, training, entry, and affordability.

We now have at all times been identified for high quality care and affected person satisfaction, however we’ve set even increased requirements for excellence, outcomes, progress, and affected person engagement. Moreover, we deal with all sufferers no matter skill to pay.

By way of telehealth agreements and doctor satellite tv for pc clinic area, we’ve had success this yr partnering with different healthcare techniques. We now have targeting not solely serving our business and managed care sufferers, but additionally centered on FQHCs, rural hospitals, crucial entry hospitals, pressing care facilities, and college screenings.

By way of an initiative referred to as Shriners Kids’s Entry Navigator (SCAN), we’ve been capable of have interaction with over 225 new suppliers as referral sources in our catchment space of South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.

Nevertheless, our boundaries will not be restricted to only these seven states. Over the previous few  years, we’ve served sufferers from 38 states and 34 international international locations and territories – making us a world vacation spot heart.

Diane Lynn. Assistant Vice President of World Well being Care at Advocate Well being (Charlotte, N.C.): One of many high priorities might be enhancing and rising entry to care. That encompasses enchancment within the current care fashions but additionally leaning into the event of alternate care fashions that enable for larger entry to care; this consists of enhanced digital well being alternatives, strong hospital at dwelling fashions and different progressive options. 

Roxanna Gapstur, PhD, RN. President and CEO of WellSpan Well being (York, Pa.): In 2025, workforce challenges will stay one of many best headwinds. With a shrinking labor pool and evolving expectations, the necessity to entice and retain expertise is extra crucial than ever. We’re centered on upskilling and selling from inside. We’re additionally creating partnerships with native establishments for brand new pipelines of expert professionals. From superior coaching packages to collaboration with faculties and universities, we’re elevating our workforce to maintain tempo with new calls for. By investing in our groups and embracing progressive pathways, we’re making certain a gentle circulate of expertise outfitted to thrive in an more and more complicated atmosphere.

Mark D. Townsend, MD. Chief Medical Digital Ventures Officer of Bon Secours Mercy Well being (Cincinnati): As we lean into the headwinds of 2025, we proceed to arrange for 1. downward strain from payers that constrain the care of our sufferers and our communities. We’re 2. doubling down on utilizing digital-ventures to assist us handle staffing challenges by ‘working smarter’ to empower the workflows of our caregivers, and to enhance entry for our sufferers! We’re additionally utilizing digital-ventures to three. increase and enhance our cybersecurity infrastructure.  Right here’s to 2025, and comfortable New 12 months to all!

Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Range Fairness Inclusion Officer of Highmark Well being Allegheny Well being Community (Pittsburgh); Professor and Chair Ob/Gyn of Drexel College Faculty of Drugs (Philadelphia): As a company scientific and tutorial chief, there are a number of headwinds that my major employers and associates should put together for. Initially, a giant concern is how will we proceed to supply top quality providers and assets and low value care to all of our stakeholders if there are main modifications in our Medicare / Medicaid compensation/reimbursements, ACA and CHIP packages. We have to put together for the upcoming financial modifications which are certain to have a major affect on how we’re capable of greatest serve our communities. 

Secondly, from a social, moral and ethical perspective on complete healthcare for ladies, we have to be ready to advocate for and defend ladies’s rights to reside and to decide on. Important restrictions on abortion entry will lead this nation on a pathway backwards, the place ladies will die from preventable causes. 

Thirdly, we should additionally keep cultural humility relating to how we offer look after communities labeled as “the opposite,” together with folks with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ neighborhood, African-People and folks of coloration and veterans — when the focused packages and assets which have beforehand protected, supported and served these teams are on the chopping block to be eradicated.

Wayne Gillis. President and CEO of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Well being Care Companies (Gallup, N.M.): Malpractice – New Mexico has just lately had some unprecedented judgements over the previous few months which have set the bar very excessive. That is inflicting most insurance coverage corporations to not provide protection in New Mexico all collectively as a result of excessive threat.

Absolutely built-in telehealth packages that give the proper specialty entry to rule communities which is a major barrier to offering efficient complete care regionally.

Supplier recruitment for each household observe and inside drugs suppliers.

William Kumprey. Assistant Chief Medical Officer of Emergency Drugs at ThedaCare (Neenah, Wis.): As an emergency drugs doctor, our groups might be centered on persevering with to maintain care native in 2025, offering one of the best expertise attainable for our sufferers and households. To satisfy the wants of communities, ThedaCare is creating two new well being campuses that are anticipated to open in 2025. Each hospitals may have emergency care, inpatient beds, and 24/7 protection with board-certified emergency drugs physicians.

Particularly, within the emergency division, we’re excited to put money into expertise throughout all places which is able to enable our groups to correctly workers the EDs, and handle rising volumes and acuity. For instance, we’re adjusting our workflows and rooming processes. We’re additionally utilizing AI options that may assist cut back administrative workload of clinicians by way of computerized documentation platforms. At ThedaCare, we promise to make well being care simpler. To satisfy sufferers the place they’re, and reduce wait occasions, we’re ready to make the most of digital ED telemedicine when wanted. Initiatives reminiscent of this may help enhance the expertise from either side – for sufferers and care groups. Our system’s continued dedication to placing sufferers first might be enhanced with digital and technological developments.

We additionally sit up for supporting our physicians by way of greatest practices and progressive resiliency methods. It’s essential that we perceive the challenges staff members are going through. ThedaCare has launched a brand new peer help program which gives construction and specialised coaching to clinicians to allow them to help their colleagues after adversarial occasions or professionally nerve-racking circumstances. 

All physicians, nurses, and superior observe clinicians have the chance to take part. The periods give attention to listening and help from a spot of shared understanding. By way of packages reminiscent of this peer help program, we are able to problem-solve collectively, empowering staff members in enchancment efforts to make sure they really feel supported and engaged. This may enable physicians and groups to proceed offering high-quality look after these we serve. As we empower every individual to reside their greatest life by way of wellness, prediction, prevention and therapeutic, we even have the chance to help our care groups in significant and impactful methods in order that we are able to proceed delivering complete care when our sufferers have extra pressing wants. 

D. Richelle Heldwein, MPH. Chief Danger and Compliance Officer of St Johns Well being (Jackson, Wyo.): As we shut out 2024 and look to 2025 we proceed to see the uphill battle of an ever getting older inhabitants and lack of suppliers and workers to look after them. With this additionally comes a payer combine that shifts a lot of our commercially insured sufferers into governmental packages which are decrease paying packages for hospitals. This makes already strained margins even tighter. Add the necessity to pay extra to recruit key scientific workers and it makes for a fairly stiff headwind in protecting an unbiased neighborhood hospital within the black. This impacts the power to buy new tools and keep on the slicing fringe of expertise for high quality care of our sufferers in addition to impacting entry to care. Our strategic focus of entry to care helps us see these wants and kit as much as meet the challenges that 2025 brings.

Mayank Shah, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Advocate Condell Medical Heart, Advocate Well being (Charlotte, N.C.): From a hospital and well being system perspective, there are a number of anticipated headwinds in 2025. Maybe the largest is the regulatory uncertainty, there are waivers and packages which are due for renewal in 24-25. With change in administrative course, it’s unclear the way forward for these waivers. As a system, we proceed to work by way of eventualities of making stability in packages and advantages regardless of regulatory modifications.

Second headwind for consideration is sustained monetary pressures with rising denials and reimbursement challenges balanced with wanted neighborhood and expertise developments for effectivity. To plan the long run,  hospitals and techniques want to speculate capital into expertise and packages. Nevertheless, low monetary margins, proceed to emphasize the power for future investments.  Many techniques proceed to have twin quick time period and long-term methods for monetary sustainability.

Lastly, the healthcare market is pivoting in direction of extra personal fairness and enterprise capital investments searching for returns. This shift of possession usually compromises indigent and underserved care. The non-for-profits available in the market find yourself taking the brunt of this payer combine which constantly constrains the monetary well being of the group. The anticipated complexity is that a rise in volumes of affected person care requires upended staffing with lowering reimbursements to cowl the prices.

Nevertheless, these challenges and headwinds additionally generate a possibility for innovation and thought management. We’re excited at Advocate to be main the cost in redefining well being look after all.

Victoria Regan, MD. Vice President of Ladies’s and Kids’s Service Line at Memorial Hermann Well being System (Houston): One of many best headwinds we anticipate in 2025 is the continued decline within the variety of pediatric specialists and subspecialists with a decrease proportion of medical faculty graduates deciding on pediatrics as a specialty. Moreover, pediatric suppliers will proceed to face a rising inhabitants of youngsters with critical psychological well being considerations and restricted assets to look after them, resulting in longer affected person stays generally pediatric beds till a behavioral well being placement could be discovered. At Memorial Hermann, we’re working to satisfy these challenges and extra by figuring out alternatives for innovation and partnerships to assist us meet pediatric wants inside our well being system, faculties, and communities.

Sandra Scott, MD. Interim CEO of One Brooklyn Well being (N.Y.): With every new yr, the healthcare panorama evolves, presenting challenges that require One Brooklyn Well being to reply with strategic focus and progressive options. Inflation and rising capital prices make disciplined spending and operational effectivity extra important than ever. Workforce challenges additionally stay a precedence as we navigate labor shortages, rising wages, and the crucial have to help and retain our proficient staff — the spine of our group.

On the coverage entrance, shifting reimbursement laws will demand agility whereas preserving our dedication to delivering high-quality, patient-centered care. In the meantime, the speedy developments and implementation in AI provide transformative alternatives to reinforce affected person outcomes but additionally deliver challenges that require important investments, strong information safety, seamless interoperability, and moral oversight. By addressing these points proactively, we’ll place ourselves to thrive in 2025 in our dynamic and sophisticated healthcare atmosphere.

Naydu Lucas, DNP. Interim Chief Nursing Officer of SouthEast Alaska Regional Well being Consortium (Juneau): The important thing challenges embody financial pressures, labor points, and workforce well-being.

Financial pressures are impacting the healthcare system as a complete. Frontline leaders are feeling the pressure of needing to cut back prices and generate income whereas remaining accountable for offering one of the best and most secure care to sufferers with restricted assets.

The workforce stays unstable in lots of sectors, with staffing shortages throughout all disciplines in hospitals nonetheless posing a major concern. Healthcare organizations are competing for a similar pool of workers, resulting in a difficult and inequitable labor market, notably in rural communities.

Worker well-being, each bodily and psychological, is essential in any trade. Ongoing financial pressures, the affect of social media, and widespread burnout are affecting general well-being. These elements additional exacerbate labor shortages and improve prices.

These points are interconnected and interrelated, they usually have to be addressed concurrently and comprehensively.

Lucy Bucher, DO. Affiliate Vice President of Medical Affairs at OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital (Athens): I’m an OB/GYN and an essential a part of my scientific observe is training, affirmation, and advocacy for my sufferers to allow them to perceive what’s occurring, why it is occurring and what (if something) they will do. I’ve significant conversations with my sufferers and take time to speak by way of any considerations and questions they could have. Nobody must be scared to succeed in out to their physician; we’re right here to assist folks make knowledgeable selections about their well being and well-being.

At a extra macro stage, because the scientific affairs chief of our neighborhood hospital, I carry this guideline into our scientific planning at OhioHealth O’Bleness. I’m at all times interested by how our establishment can proceed constructing belief with sufferers and our neighborhood, and the way we are able to maintain as a lot care native as attainable. It’s extremely essential for sufferers and members of the family to have a trusted supply of medical data and medical care, not simply their particular person supplier but additionally the techniques and establishments that help the suppliers. 

At OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, we accomplice with our bigger OhioHealth Medical Enterprise, in addition to native and regional companions to grasp and handle the healthcare limitations in our neighborhood. This consists of initiatives reminiscent of cellular clinics in maternity desert counties, strong multidisciplinary look after substance use dysfunction, participation in neighborhood well being instructional occasions, and collaborative care plans between native suppliers and subspecialists at tertiary care facilities. This ensures that sufferers have a neighborhood accomplice and advocate of their care who may help them navigate after they may want extra complicated wants that require increased stage care.

Shifting into 2025 for me means digging deeper to grasp how developments in care and therapies, rising complexity of illness states, and systemic limitations intersect to affect the well being of my associates and neighbors — after which trying to discover methods I can reduce the burden of therapeutic and searching for wellness for my neighborhood.

Ryan Youthful. Vice President of Advertising at Virtua Well being (Marlton, N.J.): Time will proceed to be a extremely valued commodity. Healthcare organizations should lean on entrepreneurs to create customized content material that gives actual worth to folks. It have to be extremely related and well timed. As we join with folks throughout their decision-making journeys, we should additionally create customized experiences by way of frictionless entry and comfort. Entrepreneurs have the skillsets and technical platforms to deal with these headwinds in consumerism. We’re making ready by leveraging instruments that enable us to reinforce concentrating on capabilities and improve privateness options on the identical time. This mixture results in increased belief and long-term relationships with folks. It’s an thrilling time to be in healthcare advertising and marketing and make an affect.

Ebrahim Barkoudah, MD. System Chief and Regional Chief Medical Officer of Baystate Well being (Springfield, Mass.): As a system chief and regional chief medical officer, I’m conscious about the numerous headwinds going through healthcare in 2025. The panorama is complicated, with intertwining challenges that demand strategic foresight and progressive options. Primarily based on present trade information and tendencies, listed here are the important thing metrics shaping our healthcare atmosphere:

• In 2025, healthcare prices are anticipated to extend by 6.7%, roughly 2.2x quicker than common inflation charges, whereas hospital working margins stay skinny at 1-2%. Almost 52% of U.S. hospitals are projected to function at a loss, largely as a consequence of labor prices rising 8-12% and provide chain bills rising 4-7%.
• Doctor burnout impacts 63% of healthcare clinicians and care suppliers, costing well being techniques an estimated $4.6 billion yearly by way of diminished productiveness, elevated turnover (which prices $250,000-$1 million per doctor substitute), and better medical error charges. This represents a 22% improve in burnout ranges in comparison with pre-pandemic figures.
• Worth-based care adoption is accelerating, with 42% of healthcare income anticipated to return from value-based preparations by 2025, up from 15% in 2022. Organizations implementing these fashions have proven 15-20% reductions in complete value of care and 25-30% decreases in hospital readmissions, for instance. We have to goal for a common adoption of value-based care. 
• Healthcare expertise investments are projected to succeed in $24.3 billion in 2025, with specific give attention to AI/ML options (anticipated to develop 48% YoY), interoperable EMR platforms (projected $8.8 billion market), and digital care supply techniques that may cut back care supply prices by 15-30% whereas sustaining or enhancing scientific outcomes.

Navigating these challenges requires a balanced method that prioritizes monetary sustainability, clinician well-being, and technological development whereas sustaining our core give attention to delivering high-quality affected person care. Success in 2025 will depend upon our skill to innovate, adapt, and implement data-driven options throughout all points of healthcare supply.

Richard Isaacs, MD. Dean, Senior Vice-President of Medical Affairs, and Chief Educational Officer of California Northstate College School of Drugs (Elk Grove): As healthcare leaders, we’re navigating a tumultuous panorama as we method 2025 — one which requires resilience, creativity, and steadfast dedication. Listed here are three crucial challenges we should confront:

1. Rising prices: Healthcare bills are escalating at an unprecedented fee, with inflation, prescription drug costs, and labor prices all contributing to this development. These stands out as the highest value will increase we’ve seen in over a decade. Rising prices are affecting every thing from affected person entry to reasonably priced high quality care and insurance coverage enrollment. We should search progressive options that keep the standard of care whereas addressing these monetary pressures. 

Given these challenges, physicians and healthcare suppliers might want to take part in healthcare advocacy on the state and federal ranges. 

2. Cybersecurity threats: In our more and more digital world, safeguarding affected person information is just not solely a technical necessity but additionally an ethical crucial. The frequency and class of cyberattacks are on the rise, compelling us to stay vigilant and proactive in defending delicate data.

3. Workforce Challenges: Our groups are going through important pressure as a consequence of burnout and workers shortages, notably as affected person demand surges in emergency departments and hospitals. It’s important that we prioritize recruitment, retention, and psychological well being help to protect doctor, nurse and workers energy and morale of our workforce.

Collectively, we are able to handle these challenges and proceed to supply distinctive care to our communities. 

Ngozi Ezike, MD. President and CEO of Sinai Chicago: As the most important personal security web well being system in Illinois, we perennially face monetary headwinds. We’re closely dependent upon authorities payers with practically two-thirds of our sufferers using Medicaid. And we do not flip anybody away and find yourself offering greater than $50 million every year in uncompensated look after these with out healthcare protection. Ultimately, the mathematics merely does not work to make us complete and we find yourself dropping cash yearly. 

In 2025, we’re specializing in discovering methods to fill the gaps so we are able to get to monetary stability whereas persevering with to supply the charity care wanted in our communities. It isn’t going to be simple, particularly with metropolis and state finances challenges looming and a great deal of uncertainty about healthcare coverage pivots with a brand new administration. So, we have to look creatively at new philanthropy channels, partnerships with higher resourced techniques together with ongoing efforts to be as environment friendly and cost-effective as attainable. These are tough needles to string, however our leaders and caregivers are dedicated to our mission that healthcare is a proper for all.

Tabitha Hapeman, DNP, APRN, RN. Enterprise Director of Utilization Administration and Medical Appeals at WVU Drugs (Morgantown, W.Va.): Nobody, or only a few folks, in healthcare would say that the method of receiving authorizations or fee is getting simpler. Healthcare suppliers and payers proceed to be diametrically opposed, and bureaucratic burdens proceed to extend. A major trigger for concern is the continued proliferation of Medicare Benefit merchandise. The executive burden and rising prices essential to receives a commission requires suppliers to be strategic and progressive. Difficult the established order, leveraging automation, and fiercely combating for acceptable fee will change into much more urgent targets in 2025. 

Stacy Bentil, DNP, MSN, RN. Director of Nursing at State of Connecticut (Hartford): Nurse leaders ought to anticipate a number of key challenges in 2025 as healthcare techniques evolve. Listed here are the highest headwinds I really feel they need to put together for:

1. Workforce shortages and retention

• Why it issues: Burnout, retirements, and the restricted provide of latest nurses threaten care high quality and security.
• Preparation: Improve recruitment, retention, and engagement methods, together with mentorship, versatile work preparations, and wellness packages.

2. Healthcare expertise integration

• Why it issues: Superior applied sciences like AI and telehealth are remodeling care supply, however adoption challenges stay.
• Preparation: Put money into workers coaching, information governance, and seamless expertise integration into scientific workflows.

3. Regulatory and coverage modifications

• Why it issues: Reimbursement shifts, new value-based care metrics, and compliance necessities demand proactive adaptation.
• Preparation: Keep forward of modifications, construct compliance techniques, and advocate for nurse management in policymaking.

4. Well being fairness and social determinants of well being 

• Why it issues: Disparities in outcomes and entry to care stay important limitations to reaching fairness.
• Preparation: Lead initiatives in culturally competent care, SDOH evaluation, and neighborhood partnerships.

5. Psychological well being and well-being

• Why it issues: Rising psychological well being wants amongst workers and sufferers have an effect on organizational stability and care outcomes.
• Preparation: Present resilience coaching, peer help packages, and built-in psychological well being assets for each workers and sufferers.

By prioritizing these areas, nurse leaders can sort out probably the most crucial challenges whereas fostering resilience and innovation of their organizations.

Nick Sturgeon. Vice President and Chief Info Safety Officer of Neighborhood Well being Community (Indianapolis): A number of headwinds are rising, notably in well being IT and cybersecurity. One main concern is the rising give attention to AI by state and federal regulatory businesses, which might considerably affect how AI is utilized in affected person care and IT environments. For instance, the latest steering from HHS/OCR on net monitoring applied sciences has already created appreciable challenges for healthcare organizations. If related restrictive measures are utilized to AI applied sciences, the implications may very well be much more extreme.

Moreover, ongoing challenges embody the shortage of expert expertise and the rising frequency of third-party provider assaults, each of which proceed to pose substantial dangers to the sector.

Sandra Johnson. Vice President and Chief Income Officer of MedStar Well being (Columbia, Md.): Discovering automation or AI that may help with the quite a few duties we’ve throughout the income cycle which we’re more and more not capable of finding workers to finish. There’s a guide various to every of those duties, however we not have an extra of workers to finish them. We’d like techniques, automation, and AI to help us.

Jen Moore. Vice President of Payer Relations and Fee Innovation at MaineHealth (Portland): In 2025, workforce challenges and the rising prices of contract labor will stay important obstacles for healthcare techniques. These challenges are notably acute in long-term care amenities, the place restricted capability will persist, driving longer affected person stays. Concurrently, elevated utilization charges will pressure value-based contract efficiency, additional impacting hospital margins. These monetary pressures are compounded by payers exerting larger affect by way of techniques reminiscent of harder contract negotiations, increased charges of claims denials, and steering sufferers towards lower-cost care settings. On this atmosphere, hospitals should undertake adaptive methods, with income diversification rising as a crucial component for survival and long-term sustainability.

Kenneth Altman, MD, PhD. Chair of Division of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgical procedure, Professor at Geisinger Well being System (Danville, Pa.): The post-COVID fallout, generational shift and monetary pressures proceed to shake-up our mission. Unprecedented hospital and observe closures or consolidations create further headwinds for entry to care. Additionally, sufferers are more and more educated and there’s larger curiosity in real-time digital communication with their physicians, so it appears we’re going through our best problem. Entry to high quality care will have to be met with dramatically totally different approaches, and 2025 will possible be our best alternative to embrace and apply the highly effective new computational instruments. It is going to be a tremendous experience.

Steve Purves. President and CEO of Valleywise Well being (Phoenix): At Valleywise Well being, Arizona’s main public instructing hospital and security web system of care, we’re persevering with to search for new methods to beat labor challenges to make sure we offer top of the range care. We now have considerably diminished our use of contract labor by recruiting and retaining workers throughout the group, together with behavioral well being. We’re additionally keenly conscious of payer combine shifts resulting in the next variety of uninsured sufferers and intently watching coverage modifications from a brand new presidential administration. Lastly, cyber threats from dangerous actors are a relentless menace to any healthcare group, and we’re taking steps to guard our techniques. 

Daniel Hoody, MD. Chief Doctor and Chief Medical Officer at Sanford Well being of Northern Minnesota (Bemidji): We’re centered on progressive approaches and partnerships within the yr forward that can strengthen entry, high quality and sustainability, particularly in rural areas the place challenges are extra pronounced. The privilege of serving sufferers in one of many poorest and most geographically remoted areas of Minnesota is a accountability we don’t take without any consideration. 

There’s a maldistribution of healthcare suppliers in Minnesota. The bulk observe in city areas of the state. Whereas 8% of Minnesota’s inhabitants lives in remoted rural cities, solely 4% of suppliers observe in these areas. So as to add to this problem, a couple of third of rural suppliers in Minnesota plan to go away the workforce within the subsequent 5 years or much less. Total, Minnesota ranks within the backside half of states for major care and doctor availability. Moreover, in 2030, one quarter of residents residing in rural Minnesota counties are projected to be 65 years of age or older and may have elevated healthcare wants. 

This downside, whereas difficult, is just not unsolvable. Increasing publicity to doctor coaching packages in rural areas is essential to filling gaps in care. Rural graduate medical training rotations, notably in non-primary care specialties, can considerably improve the proportion of residency graduates who select to observe in rural Minnesota. We sit up for constructing a stronger healthcare workforce of tomorrow to make sure we are able to meet the wants of our communities for generations to return.

Veronica T. Mallett, MD. System Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Extra in Widespread Alliance at CommonSpirit Well being (Chicago); Professor at Morehouse Faculty of Drugs (Atlanta): Each at CommonSpirit and Morehouse Healthcare we’re making ready for continued challenges with denials and payers not paying official claims.

As well as, concern is rising on what if any modifications will the brand new administration make to the change market place.

Lastly with the anti DEI, “anti woke” spirit coursing by way of states rising well being inequalities and additional lack of illustration within the healthcare workforce will possible be persistent challenges.

Zeshan Anwar. System Chief Hospital Drugs of The Guthrie Clinic (Sayre, Pa.): Recruitment and retention of suppliers of each major care in addition to specialties might be one of many challenges rural healthcare will proceed to face in 2025. Equally, rising inflation and rising provide value proceed to pose a menace to organizations ‘bottom-line.’

We may also should sort out the strain of lowering payor’s reimbursements in 2025.

Patricia McClure-Chessier, MBA, MPA. Chief of Operations, Affected person Security and Technique at Streamwood (Ailing.) Behavioral Healthcare Hospital: Our healthcare system is making ready and bracing for a number of headwinds in 2025. Delayed fee from insurance coverage corporations is among the main headwinds in our healthcare system, because it disrupts money circulate within the group. One other headwind might be, if there are new, complicated, regulatory necessities within the upcoming yr, it might considerably affect operations, assets, and the atmosphere. SBHS high headwind in 2025, is the implementation of an digital well being report, and the challenges that go together with the conversion. Clinicians must modify and adapt, to the brand new technique, of how documentation and information might be captured and picked up in our healthcare system. The largest impediment relating to the conversion to an EHR, is for all clinicians to embrace expertise and settle for their studying curves.

Lacy Heiberger. Chief of Follow Innovation, UVA Physicians Group (Charlottesville, Va.): The doctor teams at UVA Well being proceed to expertise widespread pressures of the trade, together with doing extra with much less. We see clinician shortages throughout many supplier varieties, lowering or weakening reimbursement schedules, an elevated want for entry to care, and variability in service line volumes that comes with pure disasters, pandemics or different circumstances past our management. Whereas we face these headwinds, we additionally should develop our capabilities in a large number of areas — regulatory reporting, addressing well being fairness points, investing in expertise, integrating new service strains, enhancing affected person satisfaction, and sustaining high-quality care throughout 1000’s of efficiency measures. Our recipe for achievement will prioritize good partnerships, strong information sharing, and direct scientific help fashions. 

Tamara M. Campbell, MD, PsyD. Government Director of VHA Workplace of Psychological Well being at U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs (Washington, D.C.): Veterans Affairs is the most important built-in healthcare system in america. We’re offering extra care to extra Veterans than ever earlier than. Throughout the previous decade we’ve seen a 92% improve in Veterans receiving psychological well being providers. We now have very excessive VA belief scores and anticipate Veterans will proceed to hunt VA psychological well being providers. Maintaining with the demand given the psychological well being supplier shortages throughout the nation would require collaborative efforts throughout our scientific and administrative providers, making certain everyone seems to be using the stepped care mannequin the place we meet Veterans in the proper place on the proper time for the proper remedy.

Debra Fields. Government Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer at Metropolis of Hope (Duarte, Calif.): In 2025, our targets are clear: To develop entry to superior most cancers care and speed up the supply of breakthrough cures to sufferers. Among the many high challenges to carrying out these targets are rising healthcare workforce shortages and escalating prices of care and analysis.

Within the yr forward, we might be working to mitigate these challenges so we are able to transfer forward with robust initiatives that help our communities and our sufferers. A major focus might be anticipating the best areas of expertise demand and proactively filling crucial roles with exceptionally expert professionals. To do that proper, we’re very conscious of the significance of sustaining the group as an awesome place to work that draws and retains high expertise. We might be making certain our staff is well-supported, engaged,  and motivated to meet our mission and values.

Moreover, we’ll stay agile, consistently keen to re-examine our organizational effectiveness, prioritizing processes and techniques which are pivotal for delivering on our targets. This implies investing within the mission-focused initiatives that matter most –actions that save lives by rushing the supply of breakthrough analysis and making certain extra sufferers obtain our superior most cancers therapies and cures.

Frances Kelly, PhD, MSN. Assistant Chief Nursing Officer of USA Well being, Kids’s and Ladies’s Hospital (Cell, Ala.): There are a number of headwinds our management staff is making ready for in 2025, together with protecting our staff members protected and engaged, assessing and rising nurse chief competencies, and partnering to handle bills.

Healthcare staff members expertise extra non-fatal office violence incidents than staff members from another trade. Based on Medscape’s 2024 Nurse Profession Satisfaction Report, over 75% of collaborating nurses reported experiencing verbal and bodily abuse from sufferers within the prior yr. 

Our personal healthcare staff has skilled a rise in verbal and bodily abuse from sufferers as effectively. The Joint Fee requires leaders to undertake a ‘zero tolerance’ for office violence of any sort. In its Normal Obligation Clause, OSHA requires employers to supply a spot of employment ‘free from recognizable hazards which are inflicting or more likely to trigger demise or critical hurt.’ Whereas we do have a zero-tolerance coverage,  we’re working to strengthen current mechanisms to acknowledge and reply to precise or potential verbal or bodily abuse from sufferers, households, or guests. 

Nurse leaders are confronted with many challenges, together with balancing a number of, usually competing priorities, whereas making certain affected person care is protected and efficient. 

These challenges can really feel much more overwhelming for brand new or inexperienced nurse leaders. Our senior nursing management staff is concentrated on enhancing the competencies of our nurse leaders utilizing the AONL nurse competencies as a framework to evaluate current competencies and create growth plans for areas recognized as needing enchancment. Enhancing nurse chief competencies will facilitate assembly targets and targets, not the least of which is making a wholesome work atmosphere and retain high expertise.

To ensure that our well being system to develop and evolve to satisfy the altering wants of our neighborhood, we should successfully handle our bills. Whereas our staff has maintained a sturdy give attention to offering protected and efficient affected person care, we acknowledge that care be offered as effectively as attainable. Our staff will give attention to methods to optimize productiveness whereas offering excellent care and repair to our sufferers and our neighborhood.

Todd Schaffer, MD. President and CEO, Bismarck Area, Sanford Well being (Sioux Falls, S.D.): At Sanford Bismarck, our staff of suppliers, clinicians, nurses and help workers are very important to making sure the sufferers and communities we serve have entry to world-class care near dwelling. Our primary, two and three priorities for the yr forward are centered on our workforce. This consists of bringing in new expertise and constructing a pipeline for the long run in addition to retaining our individuals who perform our mission each day. 

North Dakota is predicted to have a scarcity of as many as 500 physicians by 2025. In the meantime, one-third of the physicians within the state are nearing retirement, and 30% of North Dakotans might be over age 60 by the yr 2030. The underside line: We now have a provide/demand problem. We shouldn’t have sufficient suppliers to satisfy the rising healthcare calls for in our area, which may result in difficulties accessing care and worse well being outcomes. That is unacceptable, and that’s why we’re centered on doing all we are able to to strengthen our rural healthcare workforce. This consists of fostering a powerful tradition, harnessing expertise and supporting the well-being of our caregivers. 

We even have a complete and multifaceted technique to construct our workforce of the long run. To proactively handle the anticipated scarcity of suppliers, we’ve made an unprecedented growth in our graduate medical teaching programs to deliver scientific experience, assets and subspecialties to the higher rural Midwest. 

Subsequent yr, we’re excited to launch an inside drugs residency in Bismarck. Moreover, we’ve robust partnerships with accredited faculties and universities to supply college students with scientific and analysis coaching websites. The establishments we collaborate with embody the College of North Dakota, Bismarck State School, the College of Mary and North Dakota State College Faculty of Nursing. Worldwide recruitment of nurses is supplemental to our native expertise pipeline technique. Since 2021, we’ve welcomed practically 200 internationally educated nurses in Bismarck, and we sit up for having roughly 30 extra internationally educated nurses be a part of our groups subsequent yr. 

We stay dedicated to advancing entry to care and enhancing well being outcomes for the sufferers we serve. In 2023, we started an growth challenge so as to add 36 hospital beds to the Sanford Medical Heart in Bismarck. The challenge is predicted to be accomplished in 2025 and can improve our capability to look after sufferers.

The longer term well being of our communities rests on our skill to draw and develop extremely skilled clinicians and workers. We are going to proceed to prioritize initiatives to help the caregivers we want at the moment and domesticate the workforce we all know we’ll want tomorrow.

Tracea R. Saraliev. Board Member of Dominican Hospital Santa Cruz (Calif.); Board Member, PIH Well being: The largest headwinds going through healthcare for 2025 are:

1. Monetary struggles resulting in consolidation –  In 2024 Kauffman Corridor reported that round 40% of hospitals are nonetheless dropping cash regardless of improved common trade margins from 0.3% to three.8% as a consequence of rising prices for labor, medication, and provides, alongside workforce challenges and rising administrative burdens.  The rising divide between well being techniques which are struggling vs. these which are thriving as a consequence of market positioning, payer combine, and geographic wage differentials will proceed to drive consolidation and M&A within the trade. 
2. Cybersecurity assaults impacting enterprise continuity and monetary efficiency – Almost 400 healthcare cyberattacks have been reported so far in 2024 together with information theft crimes involving affected person information and ransomware assaults crippling enterprise continuity and already struggling well being system financials. I forecast that this development will proceed till the mandatory investments in IT infrastructure are made to shore up safety on the trade and nationwide stage.   
3. Staffing shortages creating working pressures – Well being techniques struggled in 2024 to recruit and retain employees leading to extra shortages.  These shortages might be exacerbated in any respect ranges in 2025 by elements reminiscent of an getting older workforce, excessive burnout charges as a consequence of pandemic stress, elevated demand for care from an getting older inhabitants, inflationary wage pressures, and monetary pressures on healthcare amenities.
4. Political modifications rising shopper energy – The Trump healthcare administration together with RFK Jr. and Dr. Ozwill deliver elevated transparency to shoppers about healthcare and their selections. I see this notably impacting pharmaceutical corporations and the way in which they work together with well being techniques, suppliers and sufferers. I anticipate that there might be further necessities for testing, disclosures, legal responsibility reserves, and restrictions on how pharmaceutical corporations go to market and promote their medication. I additionally predict enhancements being made to Medicare notably within the areas of home-care and telehealth to ease the demand for look after the newborn boomers persevering with to shift healthcare to the house. Lastly, I envision a shift in direction of Medicare Benefit from Medicare to extend selections for the >65 years previous inhabitants.  

Luis Taveras, PhD. Senior Vice President and Chief Info Officer of Jefferson Well being (Philadelphia): Cybersecurity: I am devoted to fortifying our enterprise towards cyber threats. By staying forward of the curve with cutting-edge applied sciences, we’re well-equipped to guard our operations and make sure the security of our sufferers from threats from cyber criminals.

• Operational excellence and worth creation: Our ongoing investments in IT options are remodeling our operations. These developments empower our clinicians to ship distinctive affected person care and obtain excellent outcomes. Because the IT division, our mission is to maximise the advantages of those progressive options.
• Modernizing purposes and expertise environments: We’re centered on making a future-ready healthcare system and college. By modernizing our infrastructure and streamlining our purposes, we’re paving the way in which for an atmosphere the place information drives excellence and effectivity.

Matthew Ducsik. Affiliate Vice President of Windfall Medical Institutes at Windfall (Renton, Wash.): The highest headwinds that my staff is making ready for is the complexity of complete individual care. Populations like coronary heart failure, dementia, heart problems, and sophisticated pregnancies don’t reply to a one-size-fits-all method. Profitable methods should acknowledge social determinants of well being, co-morbidities, and cultural norms, and necessitate a person-centric, multidisciplinary method. That is simple to speak about and far more tough to execute as a result of it requires caregivers to speak and collaborate throughout vertical groups and throughout the care continuum. Windfall is leveraging digital well being options to assist facilitate efficient identification of sufferers and higher communication throughout care groups.

Tiffany Lawrence. President and CEO, Fargo Area, Sanford Well being (Sioux Falls, S.D.): Sustainable entry to care in rural communities is among the most vital challenges we’re centered on fixing. It’s a distinct privilege to function the Fargo area’s main healthcare supplier and North Dakota’s largest employer. Trying to 2025, we’ve a complete, multi-pronged technique in place to proactively handle rural healthcare workforce challenges.

We perceive the distinctive limitations our communities face in accessing behavioral healthcare. Greater than 90% of the counties in North Dakota are federally designated as psychological well being supplier scarcity areas. Two-thirds of these going through psychological well being challenges go untreated. Digital care bridges that hole and reduces stigma. Our new self-scheduling software in MyChart permits sufferers to make these appointments with no referral – enhancing entry when it’s wanted most. We additionally launched a digital behavioral well being program in crucial entry hospitals in our area. ER suppliers can now join with specialists in beneath an hour, enhancing care and lowering the time a affected person in a psychological well being disaster spends within the emergency division. 

Sanford Medical Heart Fargo is the most important instructing hospital in North Dakota, offering scientific coaching for lots of of scholars and medical residents. In 2025, we’re excited to launch a surgical crucial care fellowship and in 2026 a cardiology fellowship, which is a part of our broader system technique to develop graduate medical teaching programs. One of many largest predictors of the place a doctor chooses to observe is the place she or he trains. One of the simplest ways to recruit and maintain physicians in our communities is to develop our personal. We’re additionally centered on recruiting physicians in different high-need specialties. 

In North Dakota, our nursing scarcity is compounded by a low unemployment fee. We now have robust partnerships with native nursing faculties and universities and are centered on constructing a stronger pipeline of nurses throughout the higher rural Midwest however, sadly, even with growth of packages many nursing faculties are additionally going through a scarcity of college, notably in rural areas like North Dakota, the place simply half the nurses we want are graduating yearly. Welcoming internationally educated nurses to our staff is a commonsense method to assist fill this hole. Since early 2021, we’ve employed practically 300 internationally educated nurses in Fargo. We anticipate to welcome a complete of greater than 500 internationally educated nurses in Fargo by 2026. Our purpose is to retain these nurses long-term — these nurses signal a three-year dedication and most deliver their households with them. That is an integral a part of our workforce technique, streamlining the immigration system for healthcare employees may help us faucet into a world expertise pool and bolster our rural workforce. 

We are going to proceed to prioritize investments in superior expertise to satisfy our sufferers’ wants in an evolving healthcare panorama, deliver world-class care near dwelling and enhance well being outcomes. We’re excited to positively form the way forward for rural care supply. 

Judy Ducsik. Government Director of Windfall Central Division Coronary heart Institute (Renton, Wash.): Whereas our group continues to give attention to operational optimization to enhance entry to care, cut back well being disparities, enhance prices, and ease the way in which for sufferers with power sickness, the headwinds of 2025 are turning into hurricanes that problem the power to equalize healthcare supply. The primary problem is making ready to guide in a union atmosphere like we’ve by no means seen earlier than. Some may argue that it is a means to construct equity and fairness into our workforce; nonetheless, the trail to get there may be unforgiving and rugged for all concerned. Empathy and understanding one another are key, and constructing a tradition of belief and worth is crucial to long-term success. The second problem is the frequent incapability to satisfy contractual phrases with longstanding payors in our areas. Our sufferers expertise immense disruption of their care plans and, in some circumstances, have to start out from sq. one if they will’t afford to have out-of-network care or if they’ve been on waitlists for specialists. Moreover, the executive burden for our care groups turns into two-fold as they now should assist navigate sufferers by way of these modifications. Due to this fact, we’ll enter 2025 with energy, dignity, respect, and a get-it-done perspective.

Andrea Turner, JD. CEO of Harbor UCLA (Torrance, Calif.): In 2025, the highest foreseen headwinds are:

1. Price containment and lowering waste whereas balancing the wants of our sufferers and neighborhood at giant with an fairness lens.
2. Navigating new laws and insurance coverage denials
3. Competing for robust expertise and retaining
4. Constructing capability inside major care clinics
5. A.I. and its affect together with robust moral guardrails.

David Verinder, MBA. President and CEO of Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Well being Care System: 2025 might be one other thrilling and difficult yr for Sarasota Memorial, as we break floor on our third acute-care hospital, introduce a brand new, built-in IT platform and proceed increasing providers and amenities to satisfy the wants of our rising and getting older inhabitants. Our best alternatives and challenges within the yr forward, not essentially on this order, embody: (1) Sustaining our traditionally robust monetary and operational efficiency whereas investing lots of of tens of millions into new amenities, applied sciences and providers; (2) safeguarding our techniques and supporting our staff members whereas we transition over 80 standalone and built-in purposes into Epic’s totally built-in digital well being information system; and (3) recruiting and retaining high tier suppliers (throughout a persistent, nationwide healthcare employee scarcity) to proceed increasing and offering protected, top quality care to our sufferers.

Elissa Charbonneau, DO, MS. Chief Medical Officer of Embody Well being (Birmingham, Ala.): We’re excited to discover new applied sciences to help in our mission to supply sufferers with one of the best rehabilitative care as they get better from critical accidents and diseases. Further assets to cut back the period of time our clinicians spend doing non-patient care actions are additionally on our agenda.

Maria Ansari, MD. Government Director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group; President and CEO of Mid-Atlantic Permanente Group; and Co-CEO of The Permanente Federation (Oakland, Calif.): As we glance to 2025, we all know that doctor shortages might be a crucial difficulty. In reality, the American Medical Affiliation tasks a deficit of as much as 86,000 physicians by 2036. We’re seeing a rise in demand for well being care providers, notably as we expertise a rising getting older inhabitants, whereas on the identical time many physicians are selecting to retire early or go away drugs as a consequence of burnout. Permanente Drugs’s physician-led, value-based care mannequin is a promising answer that enables physicians to observe evidence-based drugs, the place medical doctors make medical selections with their sufferers. Our mannequin of care encourages collaboration between physicians, well being plans, and hospitals to prioritize affected person care. We’re additionally combating doctor burnout by way of quite a lot of methods. To assist alleviate administrative burden, we just lately launched ambient scribe expertise to over 24,000 physicians.

Alex Barkan, MD. Vice Chairman and Surgical procedure Director of Bariatrics at Richmond College Hospital (Staten Island, N.Y.): The pinnacle winds for 2025 will embody continued points for entry to look after the bariatric surgical affected person with insurance coverage denials and appeals, hospital monetary well-being by way of skill for capital purchases to maintain up with expertise. Does survival of unbiased hospitals with out huge establishment help depend upon personal fairness as the one possibility?

Kim Meeker, BSN, RN. Vice President of Affected person Care Companies and Chief Nursing Officer at Henry Ford Wyandotte (Mich.) Hospital: As a chief nursing officer, I acknowledge that 2025 presents a novel set of challenges for the acute healthcare market. Some of the urgent headwinds we face is the persistent nationwide nursing scarcity, which continues to pressure the workforce and affect affected person care. Moreover, the rising prices of healthcare supply, pushed by inflation and elevated demand for providers, would require us to proceed to innovate in our operational efficiencies. 

We should additionally navigate the evolving panorama of regulatory modifications and reimbursement fashions that might additional complicate our monetary stability. Psychological well being points, exacerbated by the shortage of nationwide assets to look after these sufferers, will necessitate a extra built-in method to care, putting further calls for on our nursing workers. Lastly, we should stay vigilant in our efforts to reinforce affected person security and high quality outcomes amidst the rising prevalence of healthcare-associated infections and different adversarial occasions.  I’m very comfortable to work in a corporation that acknowledges the significance of all these points and excels of their efficiency in addressing every.