Four months ago, a friend called me in the middle of a thunderstorm. He’d just been let go as CEO after missing growth targets two years in a row — despite doing everything “right.” That storm outside my window was the same one hitting our industry: rising costs, declining production, and a tighter labor market than ever.
And yet, this moment — as challenging as it is — may also define our next chapter.
Our industry stands at a crossroads: same-store growth hovering around 2–3%, overhead climbing past 5%, and talent harder to find than ever. M&A isn’t delivering automatic alpha. AI’s impact so far? Real, but not transformative — not yet. The old playbooks don’t work anymore.
So how do we rewrite them?
The answer lies in two imperatives:
1️⃣ Leadership and Culture — Recruiting and inspiring the right people, retaining top clinicians, and doing the “homework” every day to lead better than we did yesterday.
2️⃣ Technology Enablement — Using AI, cloud, and data intelligence to drive smarter growth, reduce overhead, and uncover the needles in the haystack that make all the difference.
At Patient Prism, we asked AI one simple question: “How do we grow 6% more?”
The result wasn’t more dashboards or buzzwords — it was clarity. A few small, measurable shifts in scheduling, capacity, and patient mix could move the needle more than any massive overhaul.
The takeaway: the future isn’t AI-first. It’s people-first and AI-enhanced.
Because trust is the true currency of healthcare. Technology doesn’t build it. People do.
If you’re feeling the storm, you’re not alone. But the teams that align leadership, data, and heart will not just survive — they’ll thrive. Our dreams deserve to outlive every storm.
