IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 12, 2024--
Leveraging insights from industry experts at Vizient and its subsidiary Kaufman Hall, the company today published its 2025 trends report, “ Strategy is (finally) back in the driver’s seat ”, providing a roadmap for healthcare leaders for the new year. The report highlights four key trends and offers examples of health systems who are leading in implementing strategies that position them for success in 2025.
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1: Accelerate bigger, bolder opportunities for better patient access
According to Vizient’s annual survey of hospital and health system leaders, 52.8% see patient access, throughput and capacity as their top area of focus for 2025. To harness growth opportunities that create patient loyalty, healthcare leaders must shift from transactional growth to patient access strategies that deliver a value-driven experience.
According to Yelena Bouaziz, principal, intelligence at Vizient, “The key to maximizing access and care is to look at your overall lifetime relationship with the patient and prioritize what interactions and populations you should target to create the highest impact and value possible for them — and then steer away from those interactions that fall short.”
Understanding the patterns and preferences that increase patient loyalty will enable health systems to invest in developing access points that prioritize convenience, meet the needs of different segments in an individualized way, encourage engagement and build lasting trust.
2: Fuel success through pharmacy innovation
Outpatient pharmacy spend is growing 52% faster than total outpatient spend. Expanding use of expensive cell and gene therapy drugs — in some instances, single-dose treatments that cure rare diseases — are transforming the care pathway for patients. As the industry evolves, these treatments will often be administered in nonacute settings.
“Health systems with multidisciplinary teams — physician champions, pharmacy leaders and finance teams — working together can more successfully enhance programs and provide equitable patient access to these expensive drug therapies from a systemwide approach,” said Steven Lucio, PharmD, BCPS, senior principal, spend management insights and intelligence, Vizient.
Maximizing the revenue capture of specialty pharmacy and cell and gene therapy by enhancing system efficiencies now can help provider organizations deliver on the future promise of this innovative pipeline.
3: Greenlight advanced analytics and AI investment
Advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) can allow clinicians to work at top of license through augmenting decision-making and patient care. They can more efficiently evaluate a patient’s condition by optimizing the analysis of medical imaging data and synthesizing medical history and family history.
Advanced analytics can also help optimize patient care by summarizing complex electronic health records and identifying care gaps earlier, screening for high risks, reducing unnecessary testing, monitoring remotely and tracking missed appointments and medication refills. While there is broad consensus that clinicians will not be replaced by advanced analytics or AI, those who do use it to augment their work will replace those who do not.
Erik Swanson, senior vice president, data science and analytics, Kaufman Hall notes, “Organizations are often data rich and information poor, and so these tools can reveal important interconnections. They are a sorting mechanism to determine what is most important to focus on, which you can then use to create objectives and action plans around those KPIs.”
4: Map new approaches to Medicare Advantage
Providers have hit many challenges with Medicare Advantage in the past year, including payer contractual yield decreases, restrictive authorizations for care and impacts related to risk adjustment methodology changes. According to a recent Vizient Member Networks survey, Medicare Advantage payer behaviors most costly to healthcare organizations are utilization management, diagnosis related group downgrades and discharge delays.
“Most metrics for Medicare Advantage payers are provider driven. So, whether it's risk adjustment, coding for accurate diagnosis, CMS star ratings improvement or total cost of care management, providers are in the driver’s seat more than ever if they're willing to change their business and care models,” said Joyjit Saha Choudhury, managing director, strategy and business transformation, Kaufman Hall.
The report notes that the long game for healthcare organizations is to develop a business model that includes quality care to foster a continuous, collaborative effort that improves cost structures on both sides.
Health system leaders have difficult decisions to make to compete in the ever-changing healthcare landscape. Strategic planning aimed at embracing patient consumerism, optimizing Medicare Advantage contracts, leaning into pharmacy opportunities, and leveraging the power of advanced analytics and AI will be required for success in 2025.
Read the full 2025 trends report here.
About Vizient, Inc.
Vizient, Inc., the nation’s largest provider-driven healthcare performance improvement company, serves more than 65% of the nation’s acute care providers, including 97% of the nation’s academic medical centers, and more than 35% of the non-acute market. The Vizient contract portfolio represents $140 billion in annual purchasing volume enabling the delivery of cost-effective, high-value care. With its acquisition of Kaufman Hall in 2024, Vizient expanded its advisory services to help providers achieve financial, strategic, clinical and operational excellence. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.
Graphic: The Vizient 2025 trends report, “Strategy is (finally) back in the driver’s seat," highlights four key trends and offers examples of health systems who are leading in implementing strategies that position them for success. (Graphic: Business Wire)
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.
Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.
Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
The Latest:
A witness told the AP that the streets of Tehran empty at the sunset call to prayers each night.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, addressed “Dear parents,” which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
—- By Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran drew tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators to the streets Monday in a show of power after nationwide protests challenging the country’s theocracy.
Iranian state television showed images of demonstrators thronging Tehran toward Enghelab Square in the capital.
It called the demonstration an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism,” without addressing the underlying anger in the country over the nation’s ailing economy. That sparked the protests over two weeks ago.
State television aired images of such demonstrations around the country, trying to signal it had overcome the protests, as claimed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier in the day.
China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”
He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”
Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”
He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.
Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.
“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.
However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”
The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.
The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.
Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.
“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.
Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.
Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.
A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
