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...

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...

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...

Michael Ash, MD, is the president and chief operating officer for Nebraska Medicine, based in Omaha, Nebraska. Q: You’ve had quite a career—starting as an internal medicine physician, moving into health IT at Cerner (now Oracle), and serving as a chief transformation officer before stepping into your COO role. How have these experiences shaped your leadership approach? A: I've always been interes...

Hospital system chief financial officers (CFOs) face an increasingly complex financial landscape, one shaped by regulatory shifts, technological advancements and evolving patient expectations. Here are 3 top takeaways to effectively navigate in 2025. ► Pharmacy Optimization: With systems reporting 25% of revenue tied to pharmacy operations, this area represents a significant revenue opportunity fo...

Children’s hospital leaders have a full plate in 2025—managing the challenges and opportunities presented by innovative therapeutics, emerging technologies and artificial intelligence, policy uncertainties, regionalization and subspecialty shortages—the list goes on and on. To help you focus and cut through the noise, Sg2 experts have identified four top priority strategic action...

Since the introduction of ChatGPT in late 2022, we’ve been busy discussing with health care stakeholders how to best plan for and use AI across their organizations, from supporting clinical decision-making to reducing administrative burdens. What I didn’t plan for was having nearly half of these discussions focus on supply chain. But perhaps this shouldn’t be a surprise—wh...