CEO: 3 Themes Shaping Healthcare Executive Strategy Insights overheard at Becker's 12th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable

Strengthening collaboration for health equity and inclusive care delivery

Panel sessions at Becker's 12th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable underscored that successful healthcare transformation requires robust collaboration between CEOs and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) leaders. A central theme was that CEOs play a pivotal role in embedding DEI into organizational strategy by actively engaging with DEI officers and ensuring alignment with clinical and operational goals. This includes initiatives like employee resource groups that can help foster relationships and partnerships without potential bias.

"Creating employee resource groups that are supportive and bring together individuals from a variety of different backgrounds or disabilities shows that they have a place in the organization," David Lubarsky, MD, vice chancellor of human health sciences and CEO for UC Davis Health in Sacramento, Calif., said. "It creates a celebrated place in the organization so everybody feels as if they belong and in turn they're coming to work with 100% commitment."

The conversation didn't stop at DEI; equitable healthcare was also a focal point. Leaders discussed the increasing necessity for CEOs to grasp health equity and deliver care effectively to underserved communities. As Kirkpatrick "Kapua" Conley, senior vice president and regional president of the Peninsula Region at Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Health stated, "You need to understand what's going on in your community. And then as a collective system, we can find hotspots, so we can divert resources to make sure that we can move the needle on certain social issues, as well as addressing health equity at the same time."

The significance of governance structures and data in supporting DEI initiatives was also a key theme. Leong Koh, MD, president and CEO of Portland, Ore.-based Northwest Permanente, underlined the importance of accountability, regular meetings and measuring impact. "We have to set the strategy from the top in order to cascade down from the leaders," Dr. Koh explained. "It's about the total health of our patients. We have to set expectations to run these programs and ultimately impact our community."

This approach suggests that embedding DEI within organizations should be driven by concrete actions rather than policies alone. By linking DEI outcomes to patient loyalty, reputation and operational success, healthcare organizations can demonstrate the long-term value of these programs. Tom Vasko, CEO of Newman Memorial Hospital in Shattuck, Okla., reflected on initial skepticism toward DEI initiatives: "When I started to discuss this concept, I did get some shrugging and some rolling of the eyes, of 'that's just kind of a soft business concept.' But really, it's the core of the success of all of our organizations."

Reaffirming the need for persistent efforts in the face of pushback, Damond Boatwright, president and CEO of Hospital Sisters Health System in Springfield, Ill., summarized the session's overarching message: "The work of simple inclusion and belonging is a 400-year experience. There was pushback for civil rights, there was pushback for affirmative action. There was pushback when the word diversity was included, and now there's pushback with DEI. Be persistent."

Ultimately, these discussions underscore that persistent commitment to equity — from enhancing workforce diversity to ensuring equitable care delivery — is essential for the future of healthcare.

Innovating care delivery by prioritizing patients, staff and technology

Healthcare organizations are fundamentally reimagining care delivery through technological innovation and patient-centered approaches. Leaders across major health systems are deploying digital health solutions, expanding outpatient services and creating more flexible workforce models.

AI has emerged as a particularly promising tool, offering new capabilities that benefit both clinicians and patients. For instance, David Lubarsky from UC Davis Health emphasized how AI can support innovative stroke care, highlighting the health system's strategic investment in this technology. With new tools, UC Davis Health patients can now benefit from real-time readings of their CT scans.

While the health system is currently running around 70 AI-based applications, this particular use case has significantly improved efficiencies by enabling an immediate read out of the CT scan and simultaneous transfer to both the neuroradiologist and comprehensive stroke center team.

"We've cut transport time from the outside referring hospitals to our thrombectomy suite in half," Dr. Lubarsky said. "We had to get people to believe in the technology. We had to change our processes and we had to have the right technology. And now we are changing stroke care across an entire region of the United States. That's the promise of the future."

Mayo Clinic Health System's President, Prathibha Varkey, also shared the transformative potential she's seeing with AI. Mayo Clinic Health System has deployed an AI-driven algorithm integrated with evidence-based protocols that has facilitated the triage of patients for less complex anesthesia, allowing nurses to focus on more intricate cases. This initiative, Ms. Varkey said, resulted in a substantial increase in monthly colonoscopies, particularly benefiting rural communities.

The integration of telehealth, remote monitoring and robotic systems is allowing healthcare systems to deliver more personalized and accessible care, especially in underserved regions. Leaders discussed and emphasized technology's ability to change traditional healthcare to a more consumer-centric model that enables better and more access, no matter where patients are located and no matter how they want to receive their care. Organizations must utilize a multitude of technologies to be able to achieve this new standard of care.

Balancing innovation with workforce needs was a central theme, particularly given the ongoing challenges of workforce shortages and burnout. While patient-centric technology is important, leaders emphasized the need to find tools and technology that can help ease clinicians' workloads and create more efficiencies on the job, too.

"Whether it's the nurse or the provider, we need to look for areas where we can turbocharge their productivity and take some of the more mundane, highly complex processes out and ask, 'How do we drive a productivity increase for them?'" Feby Abraham, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, said.

Healthcare leaders recognize that workforce investment directly translates to improved patient care quality. Organizations are responding with comprehensive programs that boost job satisfaction and create defined career pathways, particularly for clinical teams.

Amy Mansue, president and CEO of Inspira Health in Vineland, N.J., highlighted her organization's comprehensive approach to employee support. Under her leadership, Inspira Health revamped its employee assistance program to address a broader spectrum of needs, from childcare solutions to financial wellness training. Additionally, the organization has leveraged technology to facilitate more frequent and meaningful one-on-one conversations between leadership and staff, ensuring employee needs and concerns receive direct attention.

"Really shoring up that human capital one-on-one, providing these supports in reference to tools to be able to know they're not alone. And also having really honest conversations with them about the support they need for their families because their own behavioral health challenges within their family are as significant as our patients'. We see all of this as critically important over the next five years," Ms. Mansue said.

Cultural shifts are also vital for sustaining innovation. CEOs stressed that leading transformative change requires building a culture where teams are encouraged to take risks, experiment with new models and learn from failures.

"A high-performance team is a team that trusts the system," Diala Atassi, chief global and national officer at the University of Chicago Medicine, said. "I'm a big believer in giving my team autonomy, independence and empowerment because when you do, they're motivated to show initiative and lead."

By prioritizing both patient-centered technology and an engaged, empowered workforce, health systems are better equipped to navigate the complexities of modern care delivery.

Value-based care and why CEOs believe in AI to support growth

Economic pressures continue to push hospital and health system CEOs to adapt their financial strategies to preserve care quality. Throughout the roundtable, CEOs and their CFO counterparts highlighted the need to revise financial frameworks to maintain the quality and accessibility of care amid economic challenges.

Panelists further delved into the significance of partnerships in bolstering financial resilience. Through strategic alliances, hospitals and health systems can pool resources, broaden their service capabilities and enhance clinical outcomes without overwhelming their internal capacities.

Amy Mansue from Inspira Health illustrated these benefits, noting her experience developing partnerships within pathology and imaging services, which decreased mammography wait times by 200%.

"There's immense potential in leveraging what we excel at and partnering with those equally willing to engage — not just a contract, but really partner to where we both benefit. That's critical," Ms. Mansue said.

Transitioning toward value-based care was identified as another vital financial shift. Leaders acknowledged its potential to improve patient outcomes while fortifying financial health in the long run. By emphasizing preventive care, care coordination and adherence to quality standards, value-based care can align organizations' performance aims with the health of patients and overall cost reductions.

Although many health systems are just beginning their value-based care journeys, John Herman, CEO of Penn Medicine Lancaster (Pa.) General Health, said his organization has been engaged in this model for 10 years. "Our providers are witnessing the fruits of their labor, realizing its potential not only to serve populations more effectively but also to enhance our financial health," he said.

In addition to strategic care models, deploying AI technology serves as another crucial strategy to cut costs, augment value and heighten efficiency. Alyssia Crews, assistant vice president at Orlando (Fla.) Health, faced a 40% surge in patient volume and sought tools to alleviate manual labor and foster greater patient-centered care. Implementing AI allowed Orlando Health to elevate staff satisfaction despite a 25% increase in volume from two new facilities. This approach didn't necessitate extended working hours, and nurse turnover rates decreased.

"A lot of our efforts are coming from the ground up," Ms. Crews said. "It's not that we're pushing something on them, it's really coming out of that work trying to help them and just stabilize the workforce."

Across panel discussions, one thing was clear: Incorporating AI to curb staff turnover, tackle workforce-related challenges and ensure efficient care delivery is becoming a vital component of CEOs' growth strategies.

"Healthcare is a series of thousands of cues and handoffs, and some are good at streamlining those handoffs," Steve Mackin, president and CEO at Mercy in Chesterfield, Mo., said. "But our view is you've got to take the human bias out of those handoffs, and you've got to automate as much of that as possible and use AI wherever you can."