Radio Advisory

With a new payment model, CMS may have quietly created the first reimbursement pathway for AI-delivered, value-incentivized behavioral healthcare. Is that a good thing?

In this episode, host Abby Burns and Dr. Tristan Gorrindo delve into how the behavioral healthcare landscape in the U.S. has changed with the pandemic-era explosion of virtual BH platforms, and consider what that change has—and has not—achieved. Then they cast their eyes forward and unpack how the new ACCESS Model out of CMS will be a testing ground for behavioral healthcare transformation: technology-delivered care paid for using outcomes-based payment. Dr. Gorrindo, a pediatric psychiatrist, behavioral health researcher, and Chief Medical Officer of evolvedMD, argues that we should be rooting for the success of the ACCESS Model, while simultaneously anticipating and being ready to act on several avenues of unintended consequences.

The conversation caters to any healthcare leader with a stake in finding a more effective way to pay for clinical care, and in understanding the early innings of AI-enabled care delivery.

In this conversation, Dr. Gorrindo references 9-8-8, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. 988 is “a national hotline offering one-on-one support for mental health, suicide, and substance use-related problems for anyone 24/7.” (SAMHSA.gov) The 988 number has been operational since 2022, and has received nearly 19 million calls. In September 2026 alone, 988 received 536k calls, 163k texts, and 102k chats.

We’re here to help:

Read Tristan’s JAMA Psychiatry piece | A New CMS Payment Model for AI-Delivered Behavioral Health Care | Health Care Economics, Insurance, Payment | JAMA Psychiatry | JAMA Network

Episode | Ep. 260: What does progress in behavioral healthcare look like? Three leaders weigh in

Quick Guide | ACCESS: CMMI's tech-enabled chronic care model

Expert Insight | Your behavioral health and VBC strategies should work together. Here's why.

2026 Strategic Planner survey

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

Health system margins have recovered from record lows, but the median margin remains just over 1%, leaving organizations with little room for error. Sustainable margin isn't simply the biggest number an organization can generate. It's the ability to reliably fund operations, reinvest in the future, absorb unexpected shocks, and avoid destabilizing cuts.

In this episode, host Rae Woods speaks with Advisory Board experts Chelsea Needham and Clare Wirth about why leaders need to stop managing revenue cycle, workforce, operations, and growth as separate priorities and start treating them as an interconnected margin system. They explore the ripple effects of common margin initiatives, the opportunity costs behind strategic decisions, and the questions leaders should ask before approving their next financial improvement effort. Listen to learn how health system executives can build margin that is not only stronger today, but more sustainable over the long term.

We’re here to help:

Expert Insight | 5 assumptions executives make about revenue cycle (and what to do instead)

Expert Insight | 6 strategies to improve your operating margins and financial resilience

E-book | 5 Provider Strategies to Help Improve Your Margins | Optum

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

Episode | [Encore] How data savvy strategic planners will define the next era of health system growth

2026 Strategic Planning Survey

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

For years, healthcare leaders have debated whether the industry faces a true physician shortage or simply a physician capacity problem. But as physicians near retirement, workforce fatigue persists, and organizations struggle to recruit providers fast enough to meet growing demand, that debate is taking on new urgency.

In this episode, hosts Rae Woods and Abby Burns sit down with Advisory Board expert Daniel Kuzmanovich to revisit a prediction they made nearly a decade ago: that healthcare could avoid a physician shortage if organizations redesigned care delivery and deployed care teams differently. Together, they unpack what has changed in the physician workforce since then, why advanced practice providers may be healthcare's greatest untapped source of clinical capacity, and how leaders should balance workforce strategy, care model redesign, and AI investments as they plan for the future of care delivery.

We’re here to help:

Expert Insight | 5 ways hospitals can build a more flexible physician workforce

Report | Solving the CV clinician shortage without sacrificing margin

Research | Provider operations

Tool | Clinician Supply Profiler

Sponsor link: 2026 Strategic Planning Survey

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

While most health plans have at least begun testing AI tools to improve operational efficiency, a far smaller number have moved beyond pilot stage. The challenge is not merely adopting AI – it is deciding which processes to reimagine and which solutions merit investment; doing the work of embedding solutions in end-to-end workflows; measuring success; and, crucially, establishing the organizational alignment needed to generate value at scale.

In this episode, host Rae Woods sits down with Troy Anderson, Vice President of Payer Solutions at Optum.ai, and Sally Kim, Advisory Board health plan expert. They talk about why payment integrity and member experience are rising to the top of health plans’ priority list for deploying AI, and how regional plans can learn from larger organizations, focus on proven value, and avoid costly mistakes in the early stages of investment and deployment.

We’re here to help:

Expert Insight | How health plans can tackle rising administrative costs

Webinar | How health plans are using AI to deliver a better member experience

Webinar | The AI arms race: How health plans are responding in payment integrity

Episode | Ep. 313: Inside Sutter Health's playbook for scaling AI

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

Research | AI in healthcare: Evaluating promising use cases

Research | Health plan strategy

Get in touch | Simplifying healthcare with AI | Optum

Playbook | Your playbook for developing an AI governance strategy

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

Playlist | Explore Radio Advisory’s Tech & AI playlist for expert insights on innovation and the future of healthcare

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

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.