84% of healthcare CFOs fear policy shifts, uncertainty: Deloitte
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — A new Deloitte Center for Health Solutions survey reveals mounting concerns among United States healthcare finance leaders, with 84% citing regulatory changes and economic instability as the top threats to profitability.
A reduced focus on eliminating costs and an increased emphasis on growth tactics is noted, as the report indicates that organizations are under pressure to attain benefits in the face of escalating Medicare costs and potential tariff upheavals.
Regulatory and economic uncertainty dominate CFO concerns
Six of 64 finance leaders evenly divided between health systems and insurers responded that they were concerned about policy changes, tariffs, and macroeconomic volatility.
Such external developments have brought internal issues, such as labor supply and cybersecurity, to the forefront. Workforce supply and cybersecurity have been the key issues in recent years.
The growth in revenues remains tenuous, and 73% of respondents cited operating profitability as a key concern.
Medicare Advantage plans are especially overburdened, and the medical loss ratios are at multi-year highs as people utilize their healthcare plans and products. This tendency may persist, putting pressure on insurers’ pricing and risk control strategies.
High-impact strategies fall short despite adoption
Finance leaders are pivoting to mergers, alliances, and value-based contracts to drive growth, but results are lackluster. Only 28% of health systems and 25% of insurers experience significant effects from M&A deals, and only a third of them achieve partnership advantages.
Widespread adoption notwithstanding, value-based care models have challenges such as payment conflicts and data gaps.
Efforts at cost-optimization produce mixed results in the sector, 31% of health systems and 41% of insurers report significant savings through reductions or outsourcing of services.
However, one option that should receive greater consideration is outsourcing non-core functions, which can help cut costs by up to 28%.
Yet, 25% of health plans are assigning a lower priority level to outsourcing. Deloitte warns that overlooking these levers risks leaving money on the table.
Tech investments lag amid data modernization gaps
Although 53% of health systems achieve high returns from AI and cloud tools, 72% of insurance providers experience modest returns.
The modernization of data, a critical component of care delivery and operational effectiveness, is stalled – only one-third of organizations receive effective upgrades of their electronic health records (EHRs) or analytics.
Deloitte advocates for Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) to adopt adaptive planning, real-time scenario modeling, and single-source data dashboards in navigating uncertainty.
