Expanding access sustainably: What hospitals are trying – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News

Hospitals’ efforts to expand access sustainably take varied forms.

This has long been a priority for leaders, but the task has grown more complex amid shifting demographics, financial challenges, and evolving patient preferences for how and where they receive care.

Michael Kupferman, MD, CEO of Penn State Health in Hershey, Pa., told Becker’s improving patient access has been a top priority since he joined the organization in June.

“We’re focused on using our staff, space and technology more efficiently to expand access across the system,” he said. “Key initiatives include aligning referrals to schedule first-available appointments, optimizing provider templates, and expanding reminder systems to reduce no-shows.” 

Dr. Kupferman said Penn State Health is also enabling same-day sick visits across primary care locations and preparing for a new EMR system that will allow patients to self-schedule appointments online. 

“Finally, we’re working to bring our award-winning specialty care closer to where patients live, ensuring the right care is delivered in the right place, at the right time and at the right cost,” he added.

Madelia (Minn.) Health remains focused on expanding access through Headwaters HVN, a network of 19 independently operated rural hospitals and more than 50 clinics across the state, which launched in 2024.  

Madelia President and CEO David Walz, BSN, RN, told Becker’s that through the hospitals’ collaboration, they coordinate care for more than 800,000 patients. The network’s goal is sustainable healthcare access.

“A clinically integrated network facilitates streamlined care coordination, enhances quality and reduces administrative burden,” Mr. Walz said. “Shared business operations — including collective purchasing, integrated data systems, population health tools and care management solutions — help lower costs and improve operational efficiency. 

“Additionally, value-based care alignment enables the network to engage in insurance models that reward high-quality outcomes and lower costs. This shared infrastructure allows rural hospitals like Madelia Health to remain independent while delivering broader, coordinated and high-quality services in a financially sustainable manner.”

Sutter Health, a system based in Northern California with executive offices in Sacramento and Emeryville, is focused not only on adding ambulatory sites and construction projects, but on digital opportunities and expansion. The health system expects to book more than 5 million online appointments this year.

“We’ve worked hard on simplifying the access process,” CEO Warner Thomas told Becker’s earlier in July. “We’ve certainly added new physicians and clinicians, but we’ve also worked on the systems to make it easier to be seen at Sutter Health. And that’s an ongoing set of work, but we certainly feel positive about the improvements that have been made there.”

The health system has also grown its graduate medical education programs. When Mr. Thomas joined Sutter at the end of 2022, there were about 220 residents and fellows in the organization’s various programs. That number has grown to approximately 400 residents and fellows, with expectations to expand to between 900 and 1,000 by 2030.

“We’ve opened new programs in Modesto, in the East Bay of the Bay Area, in Oakland at Alta Bates Summit campus,” Mr. Thomas said. “We’ve expanded our program in Roseville, up in the Sacramento market. And we see continuing to grow those new programs, as well as our existing ones. 

“At the same time, we’ve hired a lot of physicians and clinicians. We’re growing the pipeline, building our capability to train more physicians in the future. So, it’s certainly an ‘and’ strategy.”