What You Should Know
– FinThrive’s 2026 Transformative Trends Report marks a historic turning point: for the first time, improving the patient experience has surpassed increasing revenue as the top strategic goal for healthcare financial leaders, with 71% identifying it as their primary focus.
– The shift indicates that leaders are moving away from short-term fixes toward AI-enabled platform consolidation and automation to drive long-term stability and workforce retention.
Recalibrating for Resilience: The Shift to Patient Loyalty
After years of post-pandemic recovery, 2025 served as a year of “deliberate recalibration”. Executives now recognize that financial performance is directly driven by the health of the entire operational ecosystem rather than stand-alone revenue targets.
- The Experience Premium: 71% of leaders prioritize patient experience, up from 48% just two years ago.
- Interconnected Outcomes: Financial strength is now viewed as an outcome of trust. When patients understand their bills and receive clear cost communications, collection rates improve.
- Financial Risks of Friction: Every moment of account lifecycle friction—from confusing estimates to billing errors—is now viewed as a direct financial risk. Even a 0.1% loss of a patient base to a competitor due to poor financial experience can translate into millions in lost lifetime revenue.
AI and Automation: From Pilot Projects to Core Infrastructure
Automation is no longer a “nice-to-have” upgrade; it is viewed as essential infrastructure for future-ready operations.
- The Automation Mandate: Implementing automation is the highest-ranked initiative for the next 12 months, cited by 76% of RCM leaders.
- Investment Surge: 56% of organizations report that AI and automation represent their most significant area of investment.
- Top Deployment Areas:
- Prior Authorization: 73%
- Denials and Underpayment Management: 67%
- Clinical Documentation and Coding: 60%
The “Unlabeled” Threat: Cybersecurity and Policy Volatility
As organizations become more connected, cybersecurity has evolved into a core financial and compliance risk.
- The Funding Gap: Reduced federal threat-intelligence support (such as CISA layoffs) has created an “unfunded mandate” for many hospitals, especially mid-sized and rural systems.
- Strategic Response: 85% of organizations have already modified their RCM technology strategies in response to recent cybersecurity and clearinghouse interruptions, accelerating the push toward secure, redundant platform consolidation.
- Policy Concerns: Beyond cyber threats, leaders cite Medicaid reform (28%) and 340B Drug Pricing changes (26%) as their top external funding concerns for 2026.
“This reordering indicates that revenue cycle leaders are starting to move away from short-term fixes, such as aggressive cost-cutting and narrow reimbursement strategies,” said Hemant Goel, President and Chief Executive Officer of FinThrive. “Organizations are shifting from reactive crisis management to deliberate recalibration focused on rebuilding stability, rethinking growth, and advancing technology’s role in the revenue cycle to improve patient satisfaction.”
To download the Transformative Trends and Data-Driven Insights Report here.
