James Dismond

expert panel

When healthcare CEOs face financial pressure, the traditional playbook often points to the same solutions: reduce costs, slow spending and protect margins. But in an industry where every operational decision can affect a patient’s experience, a clinician’s workload or a community’s access to care, the most obvious financial moves are not always the most strategic ones.Members of the Senior Executive Healthcare Think Tank bring expertise across patient experience, workforce strategy, healthcare technology, quality, policy and organizational transformation. They believe the first step for CEOs facing financial pressure is not simply deciding what to eliminate, but determining where the organization can operate smarter, create more value and strengthen long-term resilience.Their perspectives come at a time when healthcare organizations continue to face mounting financial challenges. The American Hospital Association’s 2025 Cost of Caring report highlights how hospitals and health systems are navigating persistent cost growth, workforce shortages, supply chain pressures and reimbursement challenges that are reshaping how leaders approach long-term sustainability.In this article, Think Tank members outline the strategic decisions they would prioritize if advising a healthcare CEO on finances today—and how to uphold the same standard of care no matter the choices made.

expert panel

Patients today have more healthcare information at their fingertips than ever before. Online reviews, provider ratings, quality scores, patient experience surveys and publicly reported outcomes all offer new ways to evaluate healthcare organizations. At the same time, healthcare providers are investing heavily in branding, digital engagement and reputation management as competition for patients continues to intensify.This evolution raises an important question for healthcare leaders: When patients choose where to receive care, what matters more—a trusted brand or measurable quality and outcomes? While transparency initiatives have made performance data more accessible, many patients still begin their search with recommendations, online reviews and existing perceptions of an organization. In fact, according to a 2025 Press Ganey study, 86% of consumers say brand reputation influences their choice of healthcare organization, while roughly 60% rely on online reviews and recommendations when evaluating providers.Members of the Senior Executive Healthcare Think Tank, whose expertise spans patient experience, healthcare technology, quality improvement, operations, AI and policy, largely agree that reputation remains a powerful driver of patient choice. However, they also emphasize that reputation alone is no longer enough. As patients gain access to more information and healthcare becomes increasingly consumer-driven, organizations must ensure their brand promise is supported by consistent experiences and measurable results.Below, they explore how healthcare organizations can strike the right balance between reputation and performance. Because while reputation may earn a patient's attention, long-term trust is built through transparency, exceptional experiences and outcomes that consistently deliver on the brand's promise.

expert panel

Not long ago, healthcare leaders could reasonably expect periods of stability between major disruptions. Today, those periods are becoming increasingly rare. One week brings new reimbursement concerns. The next brings staffing challenges, evolving regulations or another breakthrough technology promising to transform care delivery. For many organizations, uncertainty is no longer a temporary condition but the environment in which they operate every day.The organizations that navigate these challenges most successfully aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the most sophisticated technology. More often, they're the ones that have built resilience into the fabric of their operations and leadership culture. They communicate openly when circumstances change, empower employees to make decisions and create systems that can adapt when the unexpected inevitably happens.The need for that kind of resilience has never been greater. According to the American Hospital Association, hospitals continue to face mounting financial pressures driven by rising labor, supply and pharmaceutical costs, even as reimbursement challenges persist. At the same time, rapid advances in artificial intelligence, analytics and digital health are reshaping how healthcare organizations operate and compete.To explore what resilience looks like in practice, we turned to members of the Senior Executive Healthcare Think Tank, whose expertise spans patient care, workforce strategy, healthcare technology, AI governance and organizational transformation. Their insights reveal how healthcare leaders can build adaptability into their teams, operations and decision-making processes—creating organizations that are better equipped to withstand disruption, embrace change and thrive in an increasingly unpredictable healthcare landscape.