Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Driving Growth and Change in Community-Based Healthcare with Aaron Lewis

Transcript

Driving Growth and Change in Community-Based Healthcare with Aaron Lewis · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  When it comes to today's RCM, we know
• 0:02
  the challenges,
• 0:03
  complexity of claims, talent shortages,
• 0:05
  low funding, and lagging tech.
• 0:08
  That's why we built MedMetrix.
• 0:10
  We have the expertise and advanced tech to
• 0:13
  give you that edge on your revenue cycle.
• 0:15
  We're a partner who will relentlessly raise your
• 0:17
  yield, a partner who's on your side because
• 0:20
  they've been operator side, who knows your battles
• 0:23
  and will make sure you win from start
• 0:25
  to finish, end to end. MedMetrix,
• 0:28
  be exceptional.
• 0:30
  This is Madeline with the Becker CFO and
• 0:32
  revenue cycle podcast, and I'm thrilled to have
• 0:34
  Aaron Lewis, CFO of Lifepoint Health on with
• 0:37
  me today. Aaron, thanks so much for joining.
• 0:40
  Yeah. Thanks for having me. So before we
• 0:42
  kick things off and for listeners who, have
• 0:44
  not tuned into our previous podcast together, do
• 0:47
  you mind sharing just a little bit more
• 0:48
  about yourself, your background in health care, and
• 0:50
  more on LifePoint?
• 0:52
  Sure. My name is Aaron Lewis. I've been
• 0:55
  the CFO here for just over two years.
• 0:57
  I've been with LifePoint,
• 0:59
  for just over seven years, almost eight years.
• 1:02
  I've been in health care my entire career.
• 1:04
  I started in investment banking
• 1:06
  and then have been, with health care systems
• 1:09
  here in Nashville ever since then.
• 1:12
  LifePoint is a highly diversified health care organization
• 1:16
  covering 33 states just shy of 11,000,000,000 of
• 1:19
  annual revenues, 55,000
• 1:21
  employees,
• 1:22
  and really diversified into an acute care rehab
• 1:25
  and behavioral
• 1:26
  businesses. We have 60 acute care hospitals, just
• 1:29
  under 50 inpatient rehab facilities,
• 1:32
  and just under 25 behavioral health facilities.
• 1:35
  And the the rehab
• 1:37
  hospitals are
• 1:39
  primarily partnered with some of the premier
• 1:41
  health care institutions across the country, and we
• 1:44
  feel incredibly fortunate to be a partner oriented
• 1:47
  organization with a lot of those folks as
• 1:49
  well as some of those partnerships in behavioral
• 1:51
  and acute care as well.
• 1:53
  Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing. So,
• 1:55
  Erin, before we dive into the conversation, I
• 1:57
  do have to start off by asking you.
• 1:59
  We just recently covered some pretty big LifePoint
• 2:01
  Health news here at Becker's.
• 2:03
  You guys signed an agreement to acquire eight
• 2:06
  acute care hospitals from Louisville, Kentucky Scion Health.
• 2:10
  So I just wanted to kick off to
• 2:11
  let you maybe share a little bit about
• 2:13
  that. Any updates there,
• 2:16
  excitement surrounding this agreement? Any thoughts from you?
• 2:19
  Yeah. I think it's consistent with our overall,
• 2:22
  growth plans and trajectory. You know, we've talked
• 2:24
  a lot about our growth pipelines on the
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  rehabilitation
• 2:28
  business,
• 2:29
  as well as the behavioral business
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  with both consistent partners as well as new
• 2:33
  partners. We have seen that growth continue and
• 2:37
  see it growing, and continuing in the future.
• 2:40
  We've made a lot of investments across the
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  organization
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  to really reposition.
• 2:45
  We we've made investment in new ERP platform
• 2:47
  and some of those types of things to
• 2:49
  really position us for significant future growth. And
• 2:53
  we do believe we have,
• 2:54
  a unique position across the country in many
• 2:57
  of the communities that we serve and an
• 2:59
  obligation,
• 3:00
  to non urban and rural communities across the
• 3:02
  country to continue to build a model that
• 3:04
  allows us to be there and providing services
• 3:07
  for a long term.
• 3:08
  So I think that the recent announcement is
• 3:10
  just a an an example of the opportunity
• 3:12
  that we'll have to continue to enter more
• 3:14
  communities
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  and grow into the future. So we're not
• 3:18
  specifically
• 3:19
  identifying growth in acute rehab or behavioral. We
• 3:22
  view all of those as an opportunity for
• 3:24
  future growth.
• 3:25
  Awesome. So will this bring you guys to
• 3:27
  you said 60 hospitals. So now this will
• 3:29
  bring you to 68?
• 3:31
  Correct. Yeah. And we we don't focus on
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  the numbers very much to be honest with
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  you. It's much more about the fit in
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  the communities that we're either familiar with or
• 3:39
  made sense from a regional approach.
• 3:42
  Nice. Yeah. And these made sense in that,
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  arena. And so from that perspective, where we
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  have opportunities that we know we can be
• 3:49
  a partner long term to,
• 3:51
  these communities, we'll continue to, explore those opportunities
• 3:54
  in the future. Cool. And then final question
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  for you here. So, obviously,
• 3:58
  following this agreement with the deal expected to
• 4:00
  close in between sixty to ninety days from
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  when you guys have the release.
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  Assuming once that deal closes, you guys will
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  just work on integrating these facilities. Any other
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  thoughts there?
• 4:11
  No. That's correct.
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  Again, the organization that we've we've built and
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  the the transformation we've been through over the
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  last twelve to twenty four months,
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  is an enabler of these types of opportunities,
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  and we're familiar with,
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  transactions
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  and and acquisitions.
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  I joined LifePoint through one of those transactions.
• 4:29
  And so, it's work that we know how
• 4:31
  to do, and we'll continue to equip the
• 4:34
  organization to focus on the core operations and
• 4:37
  serve in our communities from a quality perspective
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  going forward as well as when we have
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  opportunities like this quickly integrating
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  and continue to operate as one organization going
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  forward.
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  Yeah. Definitely exciting time of growth for LifePoint.
• 4:49
  So thank you for sharing a little more
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  detail there.
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  I wanna shift gears now and ask you,
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  obviously, we're now four months into 2026.
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  It's, you know, been a a busy wild
• 5:00
  ride so far this year, for the industry.
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  So could you share some financial trends or
• 5:04
  shifts you're keeping a close eye on right
• 5:06
  now and why you're following them so closely?
• 5:09
  Yeah. I think I'd probably summarize a lot
• 5:11
  of them as just some of the the
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  macro response to all the change we've seen
• 5:16
  over the last twelve months. You know, people
• 5:19
  have referenced the OBBBA
• 5:21
  as one of those catalysts, but there's been
• 5:23
  a lot of other things
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  that are either on the heels of that
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  through some of the rural transformation funds,
• 5:29
  some of the expiration
• 5:31
  of the enhanced subsidies.
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  So there has been a lot of change,
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  as you mentioned, over the last twelve months
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  and keeping our finger on the pulse of
• 5:38
  all of those. And then at the core
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  of what we do is delivering high quality
• 5:42
  community care,
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  to the to the communities that we serve,
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  and that is the primary focus. But watching
• 5:48
  how all of these have have shaped,
• 5:50
  from a coverage perspective
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  as well as what is AI doing to
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  infuse this as well as some of the
• 5:55
  coverage changes.
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  That that has, I wouldn't say, complicated the
• 5:59
  business, but create a lot of different variables,
• 6:02
  that we are watching and trending to make
• 6:03
  sure, that we're reacting appropriately.
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  And then the only other piece I would
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  add is is just the consistent
• 6:09
  payer behavior and some of the challenges there
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  that has across the industry and and been
• 6:14
  present for a while.
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  It has not accelerated for us, but it
• 6:18
  is pretty consistent. So deploying resources
• 6:21
  and technology and solution to make sure that
• 6:24
  when we provide care, we continue to be
• 6:26
  appropriately reimbursed for that care.
• 6:28
  And in that same vein, when you think
• 6:30
  about, like, a good leadership mindset right now,
• 6:32
  what do you think will be most important
• 6:34
  for CFOs to zero in on, like, navigating
• 6:36
  all these uncertainties?
• 6:39
  Yeah. I I try to view myself, and
• 6:41
  and if I'm a proxy for CFOs, I
• 6:43
  I think that, I have to be a
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  change catalyst for the organization.
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  Yeah. And it's incumbent upon me to bring
• 6:50
  actionable information to the teams to then go
• 6:53
  execute.
• 6:54
  So I have to be able to look
• 6:55
  into the future a little bit as hard
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  as that is. You know, use recent information
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  to try to at least project a little
• 7:01
  bit.
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  But then translating that into
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  what can we do about it. We have
• 7:06
  to be focused on on changing the score
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  versus just reporting the score. And that that
• 7:12
  is a primary focus of mine. But I
• 7:13
  do think that that from these seats being
• 7:16
  that catalyst for change,
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  in a logical,
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  systemic,
• 7:21
  sustainable way
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  is critically important as we think about some
• 7:25
  of the challenges we face,
• 7:27
  into the near term future as well as
• 7:29
  as the long term future.
• 7:31
  Yeah. Some very good advice there. And I
• 7:33
  know at the beginning, we obviously talked about
• 7:35
  the recent agreement that was signed. And when
• 7:37
  you look to the future, just in terms
• 7:39
  of, you know, what's next for Lifepoint, you
• 7:41
  obviously had that that just occurred.
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  Any other thoughts for opportunities for smart growth
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  in in the year ahead looking to next
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  year?
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  Yeah. And we touched on some of that.
• 7:51
  I think that
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  we have been fortunate to have a lot
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  of smart growth with partners
• 7:56
  in both our rehabilitation and behavioral businesses. Yep.
• 7:59
  We also have those partnerships in our acute
• 8:02
  business.
• 8:03
  Opportunities to expand the portfolio, obviously, we'll be,
• 8:06
  exploring when those present themselves, but primarily focused
• 8:10
  on investing,
• 8:12
  to continue bringing services to our communities.
• 8:15
  The demand remains in our communities. We have
• 8:17
  a unique position in most of our communities
• 8:19
  where we are the sole provider
• 8:22
  or the primary provider of all health care.
• 8:24
  And then we take that obligation seriously.
• 8:26
  And with that comes significant investments that we
• 8:29
  will continue to make to bring the technology,
• 8:32
  the services, the providers, the access
• 8:35
  into the communities that we serve. So so
• 8:37
  smart growth,
• 8:38
  will always land in our communities that we
• 8:40
  have served for a long time and will
• 8:41
  continue to serve in the future.
• 8:43
  And, Erin, if you had to think of
• 8:45
  the perfect acquisition, a a hospital or something,
• 8:48
  what what does a good strong acquisition look
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  like to you? Something that will be ready
• 8:51
  for the for the taking.
• 8:53
  Yeah. That's a good question.
• 8:55
  I think what we what we look at
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  is community that we know we can serve
• 8:59
  well, what fits into the portfolio.
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  When I think about a lot of the
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  communities that we serve,
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  it is high acuity services.
• 9:08
  And the criticality
• 9:09
  of those services
• 9:11
  in the region, not just that individual community,
• 9:14
  are very, very important. When I think about
• 9:16
  cardiac care. I think about stroke care. All
• 9:19
  of the the services where time matters,
• 9:21
  we do play that role. And Yeah. Not
• 9:23
  in the in the Nashvilles and the Dallas's
• 9:26
  and those communities,
• 9:28
  but the communities we serve is a greater
• 9:30
  region that we are a transfer hub and
• 9:32
  a transfer destination
• 9:34
  for a lot of surrounding communities.
• 9:36
  And we know that the services we have
• 9:39
  are critical. We take that seriously. And so
• 9:41
  communities that fit that profile,
• 9:43
  we we we look at and would love
• 9:45
  the opportunity to continue to expand into those.
• 9:47
  But, again, our primary focus is making sure
• 9:50
  we're expanding services
• 9:52
  in the Yeah. That we serve today. Yeah.
• 9:54
  Yeah. It's just, you know, providing that solid
• 9:57
  care. Awesome.
• 9:58
  A final question for you here.
• 10:01
  What would you say is it one lesson
• 10:03
  that you took from last year, 2025, that
• 10:05
  you're carrying into this year, and and implementing
• 10:08
  throughout your your role?
• 10:10
  Yeah. 2025
• 10:12
  for us was a year of transformation.
• 10:14
  We Yeah. We transitioned the entire organization onto
• 10:16
  a new ERP all within six months with
• 10:19
  a different operating model,
• 10:21
  as well as new technology, as well as
• 10:23
  new processes. So,
• 10:25
  I think it is a
• 10:26
  very, very large example of what I commented
• 10:29
  on earlier around change is absolutely critical. I
• 10:32
  think the thing that I'm pulling forward is
• 10:35
  making the change is one thing,
• 10:38
  but a a super intense focus on the
• 10:41
  stickiness of that change and how are we
• 10:44
  enabling leaders to adopt that change to think
• 10:46
  differently into the future.
• 10:48
  So a lot of lessons learned. We're super
• 10:50
  proud of what we did last year.
• 10:52
  It is going to position us to continue
• 10:55
  to grow and serve more communities
• 10:57
  as well as operate the business in a
• 10:59
  more resilient way,
• 11:01
  and and taking the lessons learned to understand
• 11:04
  for future change that we will drive across
• 11:06
  this organization,
• 11:07
  making sure that change is very, very sticky,
• 11:11
  is clearly understood,
• 11:13
  and our leaders know how to adopt and
• 11:15
  then drive that change through their organizations.
• 11:17
  And it's probably the primary,
• 11:19
  lesson learned from last year that I'm excited
• 11:22
  about with regard to the opportunity to to
• 11:24
  shift and change going forward.
• 11:27
  Well, again, as I said, sounds like a
• 11:29
  very exciting time of growth right now for
• 11:31
  LifePoint.
• 11:33
  And I really appreciate you hopping on the
• 11:34
  podcast with me. It is always such a
• 11:36
  pleasure getting to chat with you, Aaron, and,
• 11:39
  looking forward to connecting again maybe later this
• 11:41
  year.
• 11:42
  Perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you.
• 11:45
  When it comes to today's RCM, we know
• 11:47
  the challenges.
• 11:49
  Complexity of claims, talent shortages, low funding, and
• 11:52
  lagging tech.
• 11:53
  That's why we built MedMetrix.
• 11:56
  We have the expertise and advanced tech to
• 11:58
  give you that edge on your revenue cycle.
• 12:01
  We're a partner who will relentlessly raise your
• 12:03
  yield, a partner who's on your side because
• 12:06
  they've been operator side, who knows your battles
• 12:09
  and will make sure you win from start
• 12:11
  to finish, end to end. MedMetrix.
• 12:14
  Be exceptional.