Physicians are the backbone of a healthcare landscape stretched to its limits. With a growing shortage of providers and increasing administrative burdens, it’s time to confront the dysfunction payers create. This session challenges practice leaders to rethink their payer relationships and stop following outdated norms. We will examine when and how to exit silent PPOs, reject managed Medicare contracts that erode margins, and demand Gold Card authorization waivers to eliminate unnecessary delays. Attendees will learn how to push back against homegrown payer fee schedules that lack transparency, and resist lower fee schedules by line of business or provider license types, such as NPPs. Physicians must define and dictate the terms under which they will continue to see insured patients without defaulting to concierge medicine. This session will equip attendees to advocate for fair compensation, reduce administrative friction, and support sustainable independent practice. Through real-world examples and tactical strategies, participants will leave with a blueprint for renegotiating contracts, asserting control over clinical workflows, and restoring balance in a system that has long favored payers over providers.

Too often, leadership development is viewed as a “soft skill” rather than a financial strategy. Yet turnover, disengagement, and misaligned leadership cost healthcare organizations millions each year. This session reframes leadership development as a measurable financial investment. Attendees will learn how to calculate the cost of turnover, connect leadership effectiveness to productivity and financial metrics, and present the ROI of leadership development to stakeholders. Real examples from healthcare will illustrate how intentional leadership investment improves staff retention, patient outcomes, and overall financial health.

Is your revenue cycle under increased attack? Are your providers working harder and collecting less? Payers are increasingly using downcoding and other subtle tactics to reduce your revenue — often without practices realizing until it’s too late. Traditional canned reports can’t keep up. This session shows practice leaders how to build targeted emails, dashboards, and spreadsheets that help busy managers spot revenue leaks before they become financial floods. Attendees will explore practical strategies to track and respond to downcoding, denial trends, and other hidden threats to your practice’s finances. Through an interactive discussion and real-world examples from practices across the country, attendees will see how to identify, fix, and follow up on current challenges in revenue cycle management. They will leave with concrete ideas and tools to monitor the right indicators at the right time, and to respond proactively to today’s revenue cycle threats and opportunities. 

With rising labor costs and burnout at an all-time high, leading revenue cycle teams requires both operational insight and people-first leadership. This session highlights staffing models, automation, and outsourcing options that enhance productivity while maintaining service quality. Attendees will explore proven techniques to improve morale, reduce turnover, and engage employees in performance improvement. The discussion will address how to align team KPIs with organizational strategy so that staff contributions directly support financial outcomes. Leaders will leave with actionable steps to build resilient, high-performing revenue cycle teams.

Every aspect of a medical group’s operations has financial implications. That’s why financial staff are constantly asked to explain the “why” behind deficits or variances, the “how” of navigating financial pressure, or whether a new program can launch on a limited budget. Each of these situations goes beyond numbers. Finances tell a story rooted in operations, structure, strategy, and process. In these moments, finance professionals step into the role of problem-solvers, internal consultants, and advisors. This session explores how finance staff — and anyone tasked with navigating complex or ambiguous challenges — can strengthen their strategic thinking to generate insights and shape decisions beyond traditional reporting and analysis. Drawing on “power principles” from project management, change management, innovation, and communication, we’ll examine how to clarify scope, surface blind spots, and work cross-functionally. The goal: to move from spreadsheets to strategy, equipping finance professionals to elevate their impact while giving leaders ideas to better develop and leverage staff as trusted partners who think beyond the traditional finance box.