Radio Advisory

Healthcare organizations may be investing in AI, but many struggle to advance use cases beyond a single specialty, site, or workflow.

At Sutter Health, leaders approached AI not as a series of technology pilots, but as a systemwide operational challenge. They set out to ensure that investments in AI centered on supporting clinicians across the enterprise before, during, and after patient visits. Today, more than 6,000 clinicians use ambient listening technology, generating more than five million clinical notes. Reaching that level of adoption required much more than selecting the right tool.

In this episode, host Rachel (Rae) Woods speaks with Dr. Veena Jones, Chief Medical Informatics Officer at Sutter Health, about what it takes to move beyond siloed experimentation and actually scale AI across an enterprise. They explore how thoughtful governance, meaningful multistakeholder feedback loops, and a “good enough to scale” mindset can turn promising technology into a sustainable capability that supports clinicians and patients.

We’re here to help:

Case Study | How Sutter Health scaled AI to support clinicians system-wide

Episode | Ep. 228: Avoiding ‘pilot purgatory’ in remote patient monitoring

Playbook | Your playbook for developing an AI governance strategy

Research | AI in healthcare: Evaluating promising use cases

Ready-to-Use Resource | How to take a problem-first approach to AI

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A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

Health systems across the country started calling Advisory Board with the same question: Why are our volumes down?

In this episode, Abby Burns, Clare Wirth, and Vidal Seegobin walk through what happened after our research team dug into the data to find out whether those concerns were isolated incidents or part of a broader national trend. What they found raises a much bigger question than whether volumes are down today: What if they're not coming back the way we've assumed they would?

Together, they debate the forces reshaping demand, from affordability pressures and coverage losses to site-of-care shifts and changing patient behavior. They also explore what the findings mean for health system growth strategies and why organizations may need to shift their focus from capturing volume to competing on access.

We’re here to help:

Podcast | 303: The hard truths behind the fight for commercial volumes

Playlist | Provider Strategy and Financial Outlook

Expert insight | What’s really behind the drop in hospital volumes?

Report | Which services are most at risk of leaving the hospital?

Research | Market trends and growth strategy

Tools | Get in touch with a representative to learn more about Advisory Board's Market Intelligence tool

Sponsor link: Webinar | Building financial sustainability in specialty pharmacy

A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

For years, the story of ambulatory surgery centers was all about moving care out of the hospital. But the most important ASC trend today isn't growth. It's variation.

Organizations are using ambulatory surgery centers to pursue very different goals. Some view ASCs as a way to relieve inpatient capacity. Others are trying to lower costs, protect market share, recruit physicians, expand access, or create room for more complex hospital care. And those strategies can vary dramatically depending on the service line, ownership model, market dynamics, and state policy environment.

In this episode, host Rae Woods talks with Advisory Board researchers Nick Hula, Gaby Marmolejos, and Rachael Peroutky about why no two ASC strategies look exactly alike, and how healthcare leaders can determine the right role for ASCs in their market.

We’re here to help:

Webinar | How to design an ASC-specific commercial strategy

Report | Site-of-care shifts 2026: Inside the latest trends and data

Report | Which services are most at risk of leaving the hospital?

Quick Guide | Guide to today's top orthopedic trends

Report | Supplier playbook for developing an ASC commercial strategy

Episode | 291: If you build it, will they buy it? The new rules for proving value in life sciences

Sponsor link: Webinar | Value-based care demystified

Sponsor link: Report | 4 ways health systems are pursuing lab growth

A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

Protecting provider margins has never been easy. But today’s combination of policy shifts, reimbursement changes, labor pressures, and evolving care models is forcing health systems to rethink where margin comes from and how to sustain it.

In this episode, Abby Burns sits down with Optum Advisory’s Samantha Wyld and Jess Garber to explore how both sweeping policy changes and smaller regulatory updates are reshaping margin management. Through real-world examples, they unpack three areas of opportunity: pricing strategy, clinical documentation and coding, and capturing economies of scale many organizations have yet to realize. Together, they explain why yesterday’s margin playbook is no longer enough and what it takes to take a more strategic approach to financial performance.

We’re here to help:

Expert Insight | 5 assumptions executives make about revenue cycle (and what to do instead)a>
Expert Insight | 6 strategies to improve your operating margins and financial resiliencea>
Ready-to-Use Resource | Mapping AI’s real role in the revenue cyclea>
E-book | 5 Provider Strategies to Help Improve Your Margins | Optuma>
Podcast | 303: The hard truths behind the fight for commercial volumesa>
Podcast | [Encore] How data savvy strategic planners will define the next era of health system growth

Get in Touch | Optum Advisory: Healthcare Consulting Services

Sponsor link: Quick Guide | Rethinking iodine contrast use: A stewardship maturity model

A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on RadioAdvisory.advisory.com.

(This episode originally aired on February 10, 2026. Dr. Omar Lateef has since announced his intention to retire from Rush Health in June 2027.)

As financial pressure mounts and the healthcare safety net continues to strain, academic medical centers are drawing on their culture of innovation to pursue better outcomes — and narrow life expectancy gaps in the communities they serve.

In this episode of Radio Advisory, host Rae Woods sits down with leaders from Rush University Medical Center to explore how health systems can stay focused on results amid tightening margins, political scrutiny, and ongoing uncertainty in grant funding.

Dr. Omar Lateef, President and CEO of Rush, and Dr. David Ansell, Senior Vice President for Community Health Equity, describe how Rush treats gap-reduction as a long-term operating strategy rather than a moral or messaging exercise. They share practical examples of how local partnerships, targeted investments, and day-to-day operational choices can improve outcomes while still making financial sense — and why avoiding battles over language helps keep the focus squarely on results.

We’re here to help:

How Rush University Medical Center is addressing the root causes of social determinants of health

264: Research funding is being slashed. What’s the real industry impact?

How research funding cuts are impacting healthcare (and how to respond)

12 things CEOs need to know in 2026

Tool: How policy changes will impact your bottom line

Who gets the chance to be healthy? | Rush

The Rush Center for Community Well-Being at Sankofa Wellness Village | Rush

Health disparities in Chicago and the work to solve them with Rush University Medical Center (AMA)

The Anchor Strategy — A Place-Based Business Approach for Health Equity | New England Journal of Medicine

Rush Signs on as First Partner for Local Laundry Service | Rush

David Ansell Books – New: The Death Gap

Sponsor link: Preserving iodine, protecting imaging