US health system consolidation:
How are you reimagining operating models to achieve success?

Over the last 50 years, health systems and hospitals in the US have significantly optimized their resources (facilities, beds, talent) while delivering world-class clinical care. They have leveraged continuously improving clinical therapeutics, medical sciences, and shrinking reimbursements to reimagine their operations and recraft their footprint. 

Even as the US population grew by 50% since 1975, hospital beds declined by 37%. This extraordinary optimization phase is coming to an end as the nation faces a perfect storm of a rapidly aging population (by 2034 US will have more older people than younger people), increased disease prevalence (6 in 10 Americans have a chronic condition), and a severe shortage of staff (inadequacy of ~80,000 doctors by 2030). 

This digital focus group will be anchored on the recently published HFS study that dived deep into the changing landscape of healthcare delivery in the US as health systems consolidate. 

Specifically, the focus group discussion will explore. 

1. Healthcare delivery reconfiguration: Health systems are consolidating, vertically integrating, and merging with payers. While consolidations are outpacing all other flavors of reconfigurations, what are the critical drivers that are motivating the changes?
2. The attributes of the playbook to deliver success: Reimagining functional processes, new enterprise operating model, and enterprise-scale innovation are key to driving the success of health system consolidations. How are health systems currently placed with those success attributes? If they are not prepared, what do they need to do to address the gaps?
3. What success will look like: Health system consolidation could lead to synergies of resources, economies of scale could expand access, and additional capital to drive innovations. What will a health systems leadership dashboard look like to measure the success of a merger?