Yearly, Cedar brings collectively a gaggle of senior healthcare finance leaders for our Monetary Management Council — a novel neighborhood 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 yr, 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 onerous this second is. Margins are shrinking, coverage is unstable, and affordability has develop into the defining stress level for sufferers and suppliers alike. But what struck me most was the shared sense of goal. Regardless of all of the headwinds, these leaders will not be simply attempting to outlive — they’re attempting to construct one thing higher.
Right here’s what we realized.
1. Management means embracing a number of truths directly
The leaders who’re thriving in at this time’s setting aren’t selecting between compassion and self-discipline, or innovation and stewardship. They’re doing each.
A number of CFOs spoke candidly concerning the pressures that make “both/or” pondering tempting — shrinking margins, growing labor prices, and unstable payers. When the spreadsheets don’t steadiness, each resolution feels zero-sum. However these discovering a manner ahead are being specific about these trade-offs, linking selections 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 individuals, 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 concerning the economic system. Many leaders seen AI as a deflationary power, 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 setting, standing nonetheless is the larger gamble.
2. Success is being redefined — from transactions to belief
Prior to now, healthcare finance success was measured by metrics like price to gather, denial charges, or income cycle effectivity. These nonetheless matter. However probably the most forward-thinking techniques are increasing the definition of success: how nicely 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 now 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 completely. 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 typical price of a household medical insurance plan is now $27,000. Finance leaders see that as a enterprise threat, not only a social one. Many are rebuilding belief by means of sensible steps — simplifying statements, enhancing worth transparency, and utilizing digital communication to information sufferers by means of complicated protection selections.
Coverage instability solely heightens the urgency. With Medicaid modifications on the horizon, leaders are now not ready for federal readability — partnering with neighborhood 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 now not whether or not to make use of it, however how you can use it responsibly. A number of leaders described utilizing agentic AI to help employees and sufferers — for instance, automating eligibility checks or suggesting subsequent greatest actions — permitting groups to concentrate on high-impact, human interactions as an alternative of administrative churn. It gained’t be the very best algorithm that wins, however the organizations that use AI and expertise to convey belief again.
3. Affordability is now a development technique
Affordability was once a patient-experience difficulty. Now it’s a strategic one. Since 2010, median family earnings has grown by about 22%whereas deductibles have climbed greater than 200%. For hundreds of thousands of People that fall into the ALICE inhabitants — Asset Restricted, Earnings Constrained, Employed — one sudden medical invoice can destabilize the whole lot.
Leaders spoke about affordability as a core driver of affected person loyalty, system solvency, and long-term development, calling for a paradigm shift: transferring from techniques that deal with all sufferers the identical to techniques designed for particular person realities.
This subsequent chapter in healthcare finance is outlined by navigation — anticipating limitations, providing alternate paths, and guiding sufferers towards inexpensive care earlier than a disaster happens. On this mannequin, success is dependent upon changing into a trusted information, serving to sufferers transfer by means of a posh system with empathy, accuracy, and proactive help.
Some techniques are already constructing digital security nets to forestall protection loss earlier than it occurs — integrating Medicaid enrollment, monetary counseling, and neighborhood help into front-end workflows. These efforts aren’t charity; they’re long-term investments in affected person retention and neighborhood 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 limitations however anticipates them, guiding sufferers towards sustainable care earlier than disaster hits.
The underside line
What I took away from this yr’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 yr’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 individuals.
Writer bio:
Florian Otto, MD, PhD, Co-founder and Chief Government Officer, Cedar
An completed entrepreneur and former doctor, Florian now drives development and units general route throughout all sides 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 ultimately acquired by Groupon. After the acquisition, he turned Chief Government Officer of Groupon Brazil, rising the corporate to one in every of Groupon’s prime three worldwide markets. Florian started his enterprise profession as a method guide at McKinsey & Firm inside their healthcare follow. Florian holds a M.D., D.D.S. and PhD from the College of Freiburg, Germany.
Photograph: Sergey Khakimullin, Getty Photos
