Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Adrienne Moore, Senior Vice President of Finance at Banner Health

Transcript

Adrienne Moore, Senior Vice President of Finance at Banner Health · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  This is Alan Condon with the Becker's CFO
• 0:02
  and Revenue Cycle podcast. And today, I'm delighted
• 0:06
  to be joined by Adrian Murr, senior vice
• 0:09
  president of finance for Banner Health. It's a
• 0:12
  nonprofit integrated health system headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
• 0:16
  Upgrades, I believe, 33 acute care hospitals across
• 0:19
  multiple states.
• 0:21
  Adrienne, a real pleasure to have you on
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  the podcast with us again today.
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  For those of our listeners who might be
• 0:26
  as well acquainted with you or the work
• 0:27
  that you do at Banner Health, would love
• 0:29
  to hear a little bit more about your
• 0:30
  role and your experience at the health system.
• 0:33
  Thank you for having me. So happy to
• 0:35
  be here.
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  I am, as you mentioned, the senior vice
• 0:38
  president of finance at Banner Health.
• 0:41
  I cover some of our operational finance areas,
• 0:45
  all of the hospitals and ambulatory
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  divisions, as well as our corporate finance functions
• 0:51
  for,
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  forecasting, budgeting, cost accounting. I I get involved
• 0:55
  in a lot. So,
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  really well acquainted with our organization and its
• 1:01
  trajectory.
• 1:02
  Banner is in six states and has more
• 1:05
  than 500 locations. As you mentioned, we are
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  an integrated delivery network, so we provide both
• 1:10
  care and coverage in the communities we serve.
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  Fantastic. So excited to have a financial executive
• 1:17
  from Social and Esteem, fantastic health system like
• 1:19
  Banner on the line.
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  And, Adrian, excited to dive right in. So
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  like you said, you kind of oversee quite
• 1:25
  a bit in your role. You've been a
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  a banner for quite some time.
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  If you could narrow it down, I guess,
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  currently at the moment, as you approach the
• 1:32
  end of 2025,
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  looking ahead to 2026,
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  what are kind of two or three key
• 1:38
  trends that you're paying most closest attention to
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  in your role today and why?
• 1:42
  That's a great question.
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  I will say that we're tracking more than
• 1:46
  a 100 items right now.
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  With the changes coming out of Washington,
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  we're tracking many impacts related to health care
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  providers, patients, and members in that regulatory space.
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  And I'd say the the item we're most
• 2:00
  concerned about right now is changes to Medicaid
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  funding that will impact care and coverage on
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  a national scale.
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  That,
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  includes changes to the ACA funds as well.
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  We're seeing that the most vulnerable populations are
• 2:13
  gonna take the most significant cuts.
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  And the most likely outcome of that will
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  be increases in uninsured patients
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  who will defer care,
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  utilize more emergency departments
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  for things like primary care,
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  and the long term health effects of that
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  are are particularly
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  concerning.
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  We may see
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  declines in appropriate chronic care management,
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  Really concerned about what this means for the
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  population in this in this country,
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  in our markets,
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  especially in those vulnerable
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  populations,
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  but I'm I'm sure the impacts will bleed
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  into other populations as well.
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  The numbers that we're seeing from this,
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  the CBO
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  had done a report in May projecting thirteen
• 2:59
  point seven million people that would lose coverage.
• 3:01
  We're seeing more recent numbers
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  bringing that down to just about ten million.
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  But still, those are just staggering numbers. To
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  see ten million people lose coverage by 2034
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  is very concerning.
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  Yeah. So I think that's the to your
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  point, the the trend that finance leaders like
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  yourself are really paying closest attention to the
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  current timing.
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  Doesn't seem like there's much respite, unfortunately, in
• 3:26
  terms of what we see on Capitol Hill.
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  We know there's still
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  a lot up in the air. We're we're
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  waiting for a December vote potentially to see
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  what does happen with the ACA subsidies. But
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  to your point, projecting 10,000,000 people losing health
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  care coverage over a certain amount of time
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  in the coming years,
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  com more complex patients, deferred care, more crowded
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  emergency departments that will no doubt, to your
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  point, Adrian, bleed into not just the most
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  vulnerable patients, but really patient populations across the
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  board. So I guess
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  my question there to you and to your
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  system,
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  how are you preparing for some of these
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  downstream effects?
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  No doubt we have some significant Medicaid cuts
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  signed into law that are coming down the
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  line in 2026, 2027.
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  The ACA subsidies has a whole another layer
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  of complexity to that.
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  Kind of how are you modeling for next
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  year? How are you preparing? Looks to kinda
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  get any sort of insight into how Banner
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  as a health system is really looking next
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  year in light of some of those challenges
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  coming down the pipeline.
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  So I think Banner's is probably no different
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  than the other health systems in the country
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  that we are both waiting to see what
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  the final changes look like,
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  and we're being thoughtful stewards just making sure
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  we're putting our investments in the right places
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  to prepare to take care of these patients
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  the best we can
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  as their coverage changes.
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  I I will say that we're following a
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  second item pretty closely that has the potential
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  to mitigate some of these changes, and that
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  is the $50,000,000,000
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  rural fund that,
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  may be an opportunity
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  for us to transform at least the rural
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  components of health care in the country.
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  So the
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  the six states that Banner is in
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  have identified some key themes, and I think
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  these themes probably broadly carry across the country.
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  Workforce has emerged at the top of the
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  list
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  for all of the states that we're in.
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  We're really concerned about creating a sustainable workforce
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  for our communities and in particular our rural
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  communities.
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  It's really critical that the health care providers
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  are prioritized in this funding process.
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  Not for profit providers like Banner are reinvesting
• 5:39
  revenue directly into improvements in our communities
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  in the form of capital,
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  technology, and direct patient care,
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  which I think creates a flywheel for ongoing
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  improvements.
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  For profit companies may extract profits for their
• 5:54
  show shareholders and dilute the long term benefits
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  of this funding. So we're hoping that good
• 6:00
  decisions are made about how this fund is
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  used as it's created.
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  There's some other areas that would be really
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  smart investments in this fund
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  to look at technology investments
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  that can be workforce extenders, things like telehealth,
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  but
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  also emerging technologies,
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  AI,
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  and
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  even some,
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  physical technologies,
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  in devices and equipment that are emerging.
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  And then there's an opportunity for us to
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  really
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  align urban and rural centers
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  to provide coverage out in those rural communities.
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  I would say, you know, one final thought
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  there is that we don't need to just
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  create infrastructure within the health system,
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  but there's a need for housing and education
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  as well.
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  These communities
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  have trouble
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  attracting and retaining
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  health care workforce in part due to housing
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  limitations.
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  And then we don't have enough care providers
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  in this country to serve the population today.
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  So
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  there's always a need for us to,
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  create
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  more
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  workforce through education, opening up additional
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  GME slots and
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  nursing programs. And and, really, I don't think
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  there's a role in health care that doesn't
• 7:14
  need additional investments in education.
• 7:18
  Mhmm. Yeah. It's it's just interesting. I'd say
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  I've heard kind of mixed reviews somewhat on
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  so far from the the $50,000,000,000
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  dollar rural health fund opportunity.
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  To your point, a lot of a lot
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  of key areas that you'll be focused on
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  in terms of the workforce, technology investment.
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  Adrian, I wonder if you could maybe just
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  expand or or dive one bit deeper into,
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  better potentially that opportunity that you had mentioned
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  to align urban and rural centers,
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  providing care in some of those more or
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  more rural communities that you'd mentioned.
• 7:48
  Yes. So specialty recruitment
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  is easier in urban centers, and a lot
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  of our specialty services
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  are concentrated in in big metropolitan
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  areas.
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  Those
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  urban centers can act as
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  a hub and spoke,
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  center
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  to provide specialty access through telemedicine and also
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  transfer services for things that just can't be
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  done in the rural communities due to the
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  limitations of programming in those hospitals and,
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  in those clinic footprints.
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  So creating partnerships between urban and rural communities
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  to provide that continuum of care and coverage,
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  is an important
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  transformation that should come out of this rural
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  fund.
• 8:34
  Yeah. No interest in certainly looking ahead to
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  next year as to what comes with that,
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  specifically in relation to rural health care to
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  your point.
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  Adrian, we talked a little bit about kind
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  of some of the challenges. That's no doubt
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  a big opportunity,
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  in terms of rural health care.
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  When you think about the future of Banner
• 8:51
  Health or health care more broadly,
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  is there anything that you're particularly excited about
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  as a senior vice president of finance?
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  So, yes, I'll I'll come back to workforce
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  for a moment.
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  One of the things I am excited about
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  is our investment in workforce.
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  Right now, we train 80% of the nurses
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  in Arizona
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  and more than 1,600
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  physicians every year.
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  We have invested above and beyond what our
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  traditional funding sources,
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  cover, and we are committed to ensuring a
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  workforce for our communities.
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  I'm excited to see us continue growing and
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  investing in workforce.
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  The second thing is innovation.
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  So this is a really exciting time where
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  Banner is embracing innovation,
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  but it happens to be a time where
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  there are also a lot of headwinds for
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  health care. We have this confluence of events
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  right now with headwinds and innovation that is
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  an opportunity to transform health care.
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  In five years, the way we deliver health
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  care will look different than it does today,
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  and we're really open to that change, which
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  is both energizing and invigorating.
• 9:56
  Yeah. And I think to narrow it down
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  into innovation, there's so many different areas that
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  I know Banner is focusing on. Is there
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  one specific area in innovation that you're particularly
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  like to highlight here, whether it be from
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  the workforce perspective, digital access to care? What
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  what are you kinda really keeping a a
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  close eye on for 2026?
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  So we have a lot of focus on
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  our AI strategy, and I think you'll find
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  that as as common right now.
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  But our strategy is bifurcated.
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  So we're leveraging established partners for things like
• 10:25
  ambient listening that can reduce clinical burden.
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  And we're also selectively developing
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  AI with the right partners where we don't
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  already see an established leader in the space,
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  and we see a a need that we
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  can meet.
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  A couple of AI things that we're specifically
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  excited about. We've incorporated
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  a generative
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  AI
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  assistive capability into our business areas with a
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  self contained banner wise AI platform.
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  And then we're also looking at how AI
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  can augment our workforce. We see it as
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  a workforce multiplier
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  because we're an industry that's really dependent on
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  people,
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  and that isn't going to change. So we're
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  looking for ways that AI can supplement our
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  workforce.
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  I see. No. I really appreciate kinda diving
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  a little bit deeper and kinda hearing some
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  of the the key areas of AI that
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  you're focusing on there.
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  I guess that no doubt is one key
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  area of growth like you'd mentioned in terms
• 11:20
  of growing the workforce, investing digital, investing in
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  AI.
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  Adrian, anything else that you'd like to highlight?
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  When you think about the next twelve, the
• 11:27
  next twenty four months or so,
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  how is banner really thinking about growth? Again,
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  is it is it a more brick and
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  mortar, investing capital, digital,
• 11:36
  expanding outpatient? No doubt all of the above,
• 11:38
  but I'd kinda love to hone in on
• 11:39
  one particular area that you'd like to highlight
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  here.
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  So we're really fortunate to be in markets
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  that are growing, and we'll have to continue
• 11:47
  to invest in growth to support those communities.
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  We do have ambitious growth goals over the
• 11:52
  next ten years focused on our unique position
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  as an IDN
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  to deliver both care and coverage in our
• 11:59
  growing markets. I think we'll see growth across
• 12:02
  the entire care continuum,
• 12:04
  including our health plan,
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  And we'll continue to make sustainable investments that
• 12:09
  support our growth strategies. This is an important
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  time
• 12:12
  for us to make sustainable health care choices.
• 12:16
  Fantastic. I think no doubt. Always, so greatly
• 12:18
  appreciate the work, that you that your team
• 12:21
  at Banner do. Such an exciting health system.
• 12:23
  No doubt a challenging time, but certainly a
• 12:26
  lot of growth opportunities, a lot of exciting
• 12:27
  things going down the pipeline like you've mentioned
• 12:29
  in terms of the workforce, in terms of
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  AI, in terms of expanding in in those
• 12:33
  across those six states.
• 12:35
  Adrienne, it's such a pleasure to connect with
• 12:36
  you. Thank you so much for taking the
• 12:38
  time to speak with us in the Beckers
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  podcast. I look forward to connecting with you
• 12:40
  again down the line.
• 12:42
  Thank you.