Strategy

Mandy Eaton, PhD, did not set out to become a health system CEO.  She started in human resources, took on broader operational roles and said yes to opportunities that stretched her. About a year and a half in, she is…

AI is now embedded in everyday clinical work, helping physicians and nurses retrieve information faster and offload documentation. Recent Wolters Kluwer research found that 74% of physicians and 70% of nurses use generative AI weekly — yet 92% still say…

Health systems have fewer hospital CEOs in 2026 than they did a year ago, and the shift appears to be intentional. A comparison of Becker’s trackers in 2025 and 2026 of health system C-suite restructuring shows fewer hospitals have their…

Health systems have long turned to partnerships to expand services, add capabilities and extend their reach. But the decision to partner rather than build or expand a service independently can depend on a range of factors, from specialized expertise and…

Healthcare organizations are under growing pressure to improve access, reduce administrative burden, and do more with limited workforce capacity. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers tremendous potential to accelerate pre-service operations, but speed alone is not success. Without clear workflows, governance structures,…

SCAN Health Plan and Costco will roll out insurance products for older adults in the coming years, according to an Aug. 18 news release. The Wall Street Journal reported that the companies would begin by selling jointly branded Medicare Advantage…

As AI reshapes industries worldwide, these technologies are moving rapidly from experimentation into everyday practice. For health systems, the question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to do so in ways that deliver meaningful value while preserving…

Most health systems begin their AI journey with a single narrow use case and hope it scales. Far fewer get past the pilot. The hard part is proving value in one department convincingly enough that surgeons, schedulers and IT leaders…

Finance skills remain the most sought-after capabilities for interim leaders and experts, according to an Aug. 12 report from executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles. The 2026 Skills Index report, shared with Becker’s, analyzed the skills most frequently requested by…

Hospital and health system CEOs are under heightened pressure in today’s industry environment to justify capital spending.  Policy volatility around Medicaid and reimbursement, tighter margins and a wait-and-see approach to mergers and acquisitions have pushed many leaders toward stricter ROI…