For years, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions annual survey of healthcare finance leaders found cost reduction was consistently among the top 3 priorities for organizations. However, the latest survey indicates a shift: cost reduction has now fallen to the bottom of the list of priorities—suddenly ranking at number 17 out of 17 choices. At the same time, around 25% of finance leaders reported missing their operating margin targets over the past 3 years. Behind these challenges, organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to improve margins because of persistent economic and inflation pressure, workforce issues, competition, and supply chain struggles.
In 2024, healthcare finance leaders ranked the following as their top 5 organizational concerns:
- Current economy
- Cybersecurity
- Impact of upcoming U.S. election
- Consumer engagement and trust
- Supply chain disruption
What to do: Leaders said in the survey that marketing and branding are the greatest strategic growth priorities, and nontraditional revenue models are the top revenue growth levers they plan to pursue.