Sg2 Blog

Partnerships, now more than ever, are critical to health system growth and performance. These alliances exist in a middle ground between loose relationships and outright acquisitions. To achieve their full potential, they cannot be merely opportunistic but firmly grounded in strategy. That strategic focus is chief among the short list of priorities academic systems’ leaders now pursue in the...

Numerous issues continue to impact health systems’ payment and accounts receivables. Among the top challenges, according to the recent Vizient® Payer Strategies Network Survey, are clinical and technical denials, DRG downgrades and claim delays.  In response, health system finance teams are deploying myriad tactics to address payer compliance issues. They’re having mixed succe...

In early 2024, the health care data ecosystem experienced a disruption. Long-standing assumptions about the reliability of claims data were challenged, and many organizations found themselves navigating with limited visibility. And for a moment, the industry paused. But we didn’t. At Sg2, a Vizient company, we took that moment of disruption as a signal to accelerate. Rather than just restore...

I've started labeling cybersecurity as the "Achilles' heel" of digital health. Across meetings, workshops, and events, Sg2 experts have touted the opportunities that telehealth, AI, and other digital technologies can bring to health care, but cybersecurity risk always pumps the breaks on those discussions. It's the looming dark cloud. The elephant in the room. A digital skeptic's favorite topic to...

A new vision for health systems is emerging, where ambulatory care, enabled by mobile and digital tools, becomes the financial and operational backbone of the health system. Yet hospital-centric business models and mindsets so far have blocked progress. To flip the paradigm, health systems must focus on four transformation levers: financial growth, leadership and governance, capital allocation, an...

Health systems are performing more percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures than ever on older adults. And while patients over age 65 now undergo more than half of all PCIs, they account for a staggering 80% of all PCI deaths. This stark reality makes it imperative that CV service line leaders revisit approaches to risk stratifying PCI patients, defining procedural success and supportin...

St. Luke’s Hospital, a nonprofit health system in the greater St. Louis area, consists of two hospitals with 636 beds, two ambulatory surgery centers, eight urgent care facilities, nearly 200 employed physicians, and a medical staff of over 1,000 physicians across 60 specialties. Post-pandemic, the hospital faced challenges due to the lack of a formalized strategic plan and wanted to refine ...

Environmental factors are adversely impacting provider financials and weakening providers’ positions in fee-for-service (FFS) contracting. Providers have been working to regain financial stability after pandemic-driven volume swings that were quickly followed by workforce shortages—now the health care industry can add inflation to the list of considerable challenges. These pressures have quickly ...

Editor's note: Randena Hulstrand, Lead Brand Journalist, Vizient, contributed to this post. By addressing hospital utilization and quality, implementing innovative models of care and forging partnerships, health systems can help reduce economic disparities and improve patient access to behavioral healthcare services. While behavioral health conditions—including major depression, anxiety and ...

Despite headwinds, private equity (PE) continues to make strong inroads into health care. PE investment will remain a significant force for the foreseeable future, which represents both an opportunity and a challenge for health systems. Although some see PE as an unwelcome intrusion that complicates physician alignment and service line growth, forward-thinking health systems are leveraging PE par...