Collaborative Conversations at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando Define the 2025 Healthcare Finance Institute.
As the sun rose over the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando this April, so did the curtain on a dynamic, forward-focused Healthcare Finance Institute that tackled = urgent challenges the healthcare industry is now facing. With an agenda rich in fireside chats and co-presentations, the 2025 iteration of IPMI’s signature healthcare finance gathering took a bold step in emphasizing dialogue over monologue—a fitting reflection of the collaborative ethos required to transform the future of healthcare finance.
From Margin Pressure to Mission-Driven Models
The healthcare finance landscape continues to shift under the weight of complex pressures: razor-thin margins, labor shortages, the demand for patient-centric care, and the growing mandate for digital innovation. According to a recent Kaufman Hall report, over 50% of hospitals are operating with negative margins as of Q1 2025. At HFI, these stats weren’t just numbers on a slide—they were catalysts for action.
Fireside Chats: A Format Fit for the Future
This year, the Institute leaned heavily into fireside conversations and dual-presenter sessions, creating intimate, unscripted environments where speakers unpacked complex ideas and field-tested solutions. Whether discussing AI-enabled revenue cycle management or strategic partnerships between CFOs and CSOs, these dialogues brought fresh insights and candor to the stage.
Case in point: Brent Davis of AdventHealth and David Kelly from Mary Rutan Health led a powerful conversation on value-based care transformation. Davis shared how AdventHealth's Vision 2030—with its focus on whole-person care and actuarial partnerships—has not only lowered costs but reduced ER admissions through targeted preventive care.
Revenue Cycle, Reimagined
Several sessions explored the reinvention of the revenue cycle, with practical insights for driving performance amidst rising payer complexity and evolving consumer expectations. A highlight: Sandra Pinette and Lisa Kirk of Professional Credit shared tactics for using behavioral science to drive patient payments, while maintaining compassion and compliance in patient financial communications.
In a fireside chat on AI governance, Scott Ulrich of Houston Methodist and advisor Kimberly Hodgkinson discussed how AI is shifting from a buzzword to a boardroom asset—transforming predictive analytics, accelerating claims processing, and reshaping financial forecasting. “AI must be a thought partner,” Hodgkinson emphasized, noting that success depends on responsible integration and ongoing iteration.
Tackling Workforce and Cost Pressures
No conversation in 2025 is complete without addressing labor. Franciscan Health's physician and finance leaders joined forces in a panel on cost variation and workforce challenges, revealing how automation and flexible staffing models are reducing burnout and improving clinical outcomes. These topics echoed across multiple presentations, including ApolloMD’s Amy Katnik and Fathom’s Andrew Lockhart, who showcased how autonomous coding is restoring bandwidth to clinicians while improving financial ROI.
Bridging Strategy and Finance
Strategy met execution in a compelling session featuring CSOs from Memorial Hermann and AdventHealth Central Florida. They addressed how CFO-CSO alignment is critical to maintaining financial discipline while pursuing growth through M&A, innovation, and value-based care.
A Spirit of Partnership
Many presentations featured dynamic co-presenters from different functions and institutions, reinforcing that true transformation in healthcare finance comes not from siloed efforts but from strategic alignment across finance, operations, clinical leadership, and IT.
Sessions like the Novant Health and Tegria out-of-network preparedness discussion demonstrated how multi-disciplinary approaches are essential for adapting to payer dynamics while protecting patient experience and operational stability.
Looking Ahead
The fireside and co-presenter-heavy format of HFI 2025 proved more than just a stylistic choice—it was a thematic declaration: the future of healthcare finance requires partnerships, open dialogue, and bold, actionable insights.
As one attendee noted, "The most valuable part of this event wasn’t the slides. It was the synergy."
As organizations face 2025 with heightened urgency and expectation, the conversations started in Orlando will continue to echo across boardrooms and care teams nationwide—illuminating a path forward in a time that demands clarity, courage, and above all, collaboration.
To contribute to the next iteration of the Healthcare Finance Institute, please contact Jennifer Holmes at jholmes@ipmievents.com.
