The Future of Healthcare Financing

Register by August 14th to receive the Early Bird discount

The Future of Healthcare Financing

Length: 1.5 hours
Target Audience: Mid-careerists to senior executives.
Description: Financing, a driving force in the healthcare landscape, continues
to become more complex. With budgetary pressures on Medicare
and Medicaid, pay for performance, and federal expectations for
investment in technology without regard to costs, executives must
constantly monitor the financing landscape. Given these
pressures, many questions emerge. In a time when the
healthcare system has been challenged in many ways, it has
become abundantly clear that having concrete strategies and a
comprehensive financial plan in place is critical for hospitals and
healthcare systems to stay afloat. Join this session with hospital
leaders as they discuss how to move from the reactive but
necessary stage of financial recovery and transition to long-term,
proactive financial health.
Faculty: Each session should feature a moderator plus two to three
panelists.
Moderator: The moderator should be an executive or consultant
well versed in healthcare financing.

Panelists:

  • Jim Nelson, CPA, MBA, FHFMA, Senior VP Finance & Strategic Development/CFO, Fort HealthCare
  • Brian Stephens, CEO, Door County Medical Center
  • Paul Traczek, CPA, Partner, Wipfli

Interactivity: All sessions must feature a minimum of 10 minutes of dedicated
audience Q&A time at the end of the session. Additional small-
group breakouts or discussions are optional but encouraged.
Presentation: An optional presentation template has been included for use if the
Chapter sees fit. If used, the presentation should include required
Updated 02/2026
slides as designated in the template, and no more than 3
additional content slides.
Questions for Discussion:
• How do you monitor changes to the financing environment?
• What is the CEO/COO role around monitoring changes in reimbursement and
creating strategies to address them?
• In the face of mounting budgetary pressures on Medicare and Medicaid
financing, what proactive steps are you taking to manage organizational costs?
• How do you foresee the growing movements towards value-based care and
consumerism impacting the financial health of hospitals, systems, and the
healthcare industry as a whole?
• What has been the impact of price transparency requirements?
• How have you leveraged data and forecasting in your efforts to manage financial
ups and downs, and in what ways can healthcare executives incorporate data-
driven decision-making in your long-term financial strategies?
• How do you keep the board and medical staff informed of the financing
environment?
• How has the pandemic impacted your thoughts on capital budgets and
infrastructure plans?
• What are the multi-year strategies you are pursuing to create financial stability
and growth?
• For many hospitals and system leaders, immediate financial recovery is currently
top of mind. What are your recommendations for other healthcare leaders as
they drive towards long-term financial health in the midst of immediate
challenges?
Materials for Distribution:
Cox, Matthew. “The Value of Price Transparency.” Healthcare Executive (Sept/Oct
2021).
Rochester, C. “Key Financial Principles for Healthcare CEOs.” (August 2023)
Kes, R. “The Price Transparency Opportunity.” ACHE Blog (June 2023).
Burroughs, Jon FACHE. How the Healthcare Industry Can Effectively Respond to the
One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Frontiers of Health Services Management 42(2):p 20-28,
Winter 2025.
Additional Resources:
https://www.aha.org/press-releases/2023-04-20-new-aha-report-finds-financial-
challenges-mount-hospitals-health-systems-putting-access-care-risk
Updated 02/2026
https://www.healthaffairs.org/topic/159