Radio Advisory

Maternity care touches nearly every corner of the U.S. health system. About 25% of all hospitalizations involve a mother or newborn, and maternity spending accounts for roughly 0.8% of U.S. GDP — making it one of the most economically significant service lines in health care. Against that backdrop, a little noticed decision to unbundle maternity billing codes represents a generational shift in how pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum care are paid for.

In this episode of Radio Advisory, host Rae Woods sits down with Neel Shah, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Maven Clinic, to break down what the new maternity billing codes mean for providers, health plans, and patients. Together, they explore why the old bundle broke down, how unbundling could reshape care delivery, and what health leaders should be doing now as 2027 approaches.

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Read Neel’s article | The great unbundling - by Neel Shah, MD - The Preprint

Episode | Ep. 261: Maven Clinic on how holistic women's health is the key to reducing cost and engaging employees

Quick guide | Guide to today's top women's healthcare trends

Learn more about Advisory Board’s 2026 summit series.

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

Health care leaders are navigating one of the most volatile policy environments in decades. The next major reform fight hasn’t arrived yet — but in its place, a steady wave of rulemaking, regulatory shifts, and enforcement actions is driving real change. Policies are evolving faster, reversing more often, and creating a level of uncertainty that makes even the most seasoned strategists question what to act on, what to wait out, and what to ignore.

This moment of policy whiplash isn’t theoretical — it’s reshaping care delivery models, workforce strategy, and long term investment decisions across the industry.

In this live episode, recorded at Advisory Board’s Washington, D.C. Summit on May 4, 2026, host Rae Woods sits down with Julie Rovner — chief Washington correspondent at KFF Health News and host of the What the Health? podcast — to make sense of this “in between” moment of health policy.

Drawing on four decades of reporting across multiple administrations and reform cycles, Julie helps leaders separate meaningful signals from noise, understand where real policy power sits today, and anticipate what could define the next era of health reform.

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Playlist | Radio Advisory Health Policy playlist

Expert Insight | How policy changes will impact your bottom line

Tool | Policy Scenario Impact Calculator

Want to see a live recording of Radio Advisory? Register for an Advisory Board summit and get the insights your organization needs to navigate uncertainty and build lasting resilience.

What the Health? From KFF Health News Archives - KFF Health News

4 ways health systems are reducing EVS costs while improving performance

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

After a decidedly difficult few years in the world of nursing, things have seemingly gotten better — at least, on paper. And that’s reflective of a lot of hard work on the part of nursing leaders. But when we look at how long nurses plan to stay in the profession, we see a different story taking shape.

In this episode of Radio Advisory, host Abby Burns is joined by Advisory Board nursing expert Ali Knight and Optum expert Sherilynn Quist. Together, they unpack what today’s workforce data is really telling us and what it misses, the root causes driving nurses’ discontent, and why strengthening the nursing workforce can’t be left to nurse leaders alone.

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Episode | 274: The nurse engagement tactic leaders may be missing

Expert Insight | Labor costs continue to go up. What does it mean for health systems?

Expert Insight | Engage frontline staff to increase margin

Webinar | 5 key trends shaping the nursing workforce today

Webinar | Inform your workforce decisions with Advisory Board's benchmarks

Learn more | Optum Advisory: Sustainable Growth and Margin Consulting

5 strategies to close gaps in bladder cancer care

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

Across the industry, leaders are talking about a “battle of the bots”—with payers and providers racing to deploy AI across the revenue cycle. But that narrative may be more hype than reality.

In this episode, Rae Woods is joined by Advisory Board experts Isis Monteiro and Elysia Culver to separate fact from fiction. They break down where AI is actually delivering value today—and why it’s showing up as efficiency gains and cost avoidance, not revenue growth.

And they make the case for a different approach: stop chasing AI for its own sake, and start focusing on margin protection, operational discipline, and the problems that actually need solving.

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Report | Revenue cycle claims denial benchmarks

Report | Addressing plan-provider friction: 3 insights from Optum’s Payer-Provider Abrasion survey

Case Study | 3 steps to prevent prior authorization denials

Learn | AI in healthcare: Evaluating promising use cases

Playlist | Radio Advisory Provider Strategy and Financial Outlook playlist

Playlist | Radio Advisory Tech and AI playlist

Learn about Advisory Board's 2026 summits

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

After more than a decade of effort, healthcare still struggles with the same consumer pain points: affordability, access, and trust. Despite investments in price transparency, virtual care, and navigation tools, the patient experience remains fragmented, leaving leaders to wonder whether healthcare consumerism ever truly delivered on its promise.

In this episode, host Rae Woods invites Advisory Board experts Devin Airey, Shay Pratt, and Natalie Trebes to take a candid look at why the consumer revolution stalled, what consumerism tactics healthcare leaders need to let go of, and where the industry should double down heading into the next decade.

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Report | 6 insights on consumer preferences in healthcare

Report | Setting up your ambulatory network for the future

Expert Insight | 3 strategies to boost healthcare consumer engagement

Expert Insight | 3 trends shaping healthcare in 2026 (and how to respond)

Playlist | Radio Advisory Provider Strategy and Financial Outlook playlist

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