Ascension Executives Detail Operating Model Behind Financial Turnaround
At Becker's Healthcare's CEO + CFO Roundtable, Ascension executives described the operating model built to reverse losses of more than $3 billion a year after the COVID-19 pandemic. CEO Eduardo Conrado's structure splits responsibility into three interdependent components: growth, led by Chief Strategy and Growth Officer Amber Sims; optimization and efficiency, led by Executive Vice President Sally Deitch; and rate (managed care and revenue cycle), led by CFO Saurabh Tripathi. Sims and Deitch described a deliberately non-siloed, tension-based working relationship, an audit that found nearly 1,000 initiatives flowing to markets, resulting "no-fly zones" protecting market leaders' time, and a single enterprise-wide set of KPIs tied to five strategic imperatives to replace competing data arguments.