When Numbers Talk: Bridging Gaps in Healthcare Leadership

The following is a guest article by Russell Graney, Founder and CEO at Aidin

Hospitals are at a breaking point. Margins are razor-thin, costs are skyrocketing, and staff burnout is at an all-time high. Between 2019 and 2022, hospital expenses surged by 17.5%, while Medicare reimbursement rose just 7.5%. Add in the stress of a record workforce shortage, and the picture becomes clear: healthcare is officially in crisis.

How we got here isn’t a straight line. Factors like upward mobility issues and systemic flaws have played their part. But if there’s a resounding message from healthcare’s recent string of challenges, it’s that financial and clinical leaders can no longer afford to operate in silos. The stakes are too high to ignore the interdependence between care quality and fiscal solvency. 

Fortunately, there’s a way forward—one rooted in collaboration. If hospitals are to weather this storm and emerge stronger, leaders from across the care continuum must build better partnerships grounded in transparency and mutual goals. And a shared language built on data can help them get there.

Identifying the Data that Matters Most

Healthcare organizations are drowning in data. The problem isn’t a lack of information, it’s knowing what to prioritize. To build stronger partnerships between financial and clinical leaders, it’s essential to focus on metrics that reflect both operational efficiency and quality of care. 

The bad news? Knowing exactly which key performance indicators to prioritize can be challenging. The good news? Some critical data sets are already proving invaluable in bridging the alignment gap between financial and care quality goals.

For example, understanding patients’ length of stay (LOS) goes beyond keeping a tally of hospital days. It directly informs throughput, helping clinical teams optimize bed space while financial teams monitor costs. Similarly, tracking readmission rates doesn’t just ensure compliance with quality benchmarks—it helps pinpoint gaps in care that might trigger avoidable penalties.

When seen through a shared lens, these metrics connect operational efficiency with quality of care. However, agreement on priorities is only the first step. Success lies in ensuring both financial and clinical leaders interpret these numbers with the same clarity. 

Once a shared understanding is achieved, data can become a bridge between two perspectives. A financial leader may see reduced readmissions as an opportunity to reduce costs, while a clinical leader might view them as proof of improved patient care. With a straightforward narrative tying these metrics to both organizational goals and patient outcomes, collaboration becomes second nature.

Unlocking Data and Making It Actionable

Knowing and agreeing on which metrics matter is just the start. The next endeavor is determining how to make data actionable and accessible. BayCare Health System offers a prime example of how this can be done effectively. 

Managing over 67,000 discharges annually, BayCare faced fragmented workflows and inconsistent communication with post-acute providers. Authorizations that should have taken hours were sometimes delayed by days, forcing patients to remain hospitalized longer than necessary.

This inefficiency didn’t just inflate costs—it strained staff and left patients and families in limbo. Recognizing these challenges, BayCare partnered with Aidin to build a more efficient system. By integrating Aidin’s care management platform with their Cerner EHR, the health system automated time-consuming processes, standardized communications with post-acute providers, and introduced a badge system that rewarded facilities based on performance metrics—like response times and quality ratings.

The results were striking. By bringing authorizations in-house and streamlining key steps, BayCare reduced average authorization times from four days to less than one day with some payers. The health system also cut its average patient LOS by an entire day for post-acute referrals—an achievement that didn’t just save money but also freed up critical bed space for other patients in need.

Building a Culture of Data-Driven Decisions

BayCare’s story underscores an essential truth: success isn’t just about technology. It’s about creating a culture where data becomes the foundation for decisions. At BayCare, financial and clinical leaders used shared dashboards to assess performance in real-time. These tools weren’t just tracking numbers—they were sparking conversations about how to improve care.

For example, when inconsistent response times from post-acute facilities emerged as a bottleneck, BayCare introduced a four-hour response timer. Providers who didn’t respond in time were removed from consideration, while those who met newly instated standards were prioritized. This change incentivized facilities to act quickly, improving the flow of patient transitions.

What was the result? The impact went beyond operations. With less time spent chasing approvals or managing manual workflows, staff had more capacity to focus on patients. Nurses, case managers, and financial leaders found themselves working in alignment, unified by a shared vision and a clearer understanding of how their roles contributed to the hospital’s success.

Why Healthcare Must Act Now to Align on Data

The challenges hospitals face aren’t going away on their own. Many of the obstacles providers confront daily are the result of long-term existential and systemic issues. However, by aligning on the correct data to prioritize, providers can make tangible progress toward long-lasting improvements.

Financial and clinical leaders must align today to secure the future of their organizations. By focusing on the information that matters, making it accessible, and using it as the foundation for decision-making, hospitals can build a culture of collaboration.

This is about more than numbers. It’s about creating sustainable health systems, happier staff, and—most importantly—better patient outcomes. The time to act is now.

About Russell Graney

Russell Graney is the Founder and CEO at Aidin, a platform dedicated to simplifying care management and improving care transitions. He began his career at Bain & Company, advising Fortune 50 companies, and later co-founded a charter school in Brooklyn that now serves over 600 students annually. Inspired by his uncle’s diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s, Russell left private equity to create Aidin.