Numerous trends are reshaping the healthcare industry, including a rising expectation from patients to receive online scheduling, transparent pricing and personalized care.
It may come as a surprise, but financial management actually plays a critical role in shaping patient expectations and workforce behavior in healthcare. Leading this charge is today’s chief financial officer (CFO), whose role has transcended traditional fiscal responsibilities to become a cornerstone of strategic planning and innovation.
Sage Intacct, an advanced enterprise resource planning (ERP) software platform, can play a key role in helping CFOs achieve success and meet customer expectations by providing real-time financial insights, automating complex processes and enabling data-driven decision-making across multiple dimensions of the business.
The Role of the Modern CFO in Healthcare
Today’s healthcare CFO is not just a financial steward but a strategic architect who helps shape the future of the organization. Modern CFOs are deeply involved with:
- Data-driven Decision Making: CFOs who don’t have access to accurate analytics struggle to identify cost-saving opportunities and optimize investments, especially in high-cost sectors like healthcare.
- Operational Performance and Planning: Without tools for long-term planning, CFOs can't effectively link operational key performance indicators (KPIs) to financial goals, resulting in missed forecasts and underperformance.
- Risk Management and Compliance: Navigating regulatory volatility, such as Medicaid changes or transparency laws, is critical for CFOs. Non-compliance with regulations, such as HIPAA, can result in fines, lawsuits and operational shutdowns for organizations.
CFO Challenges in Healthcare
Our nation’s healthcare system continues to become more complex as organizations struggle to balance clinical and operational priorities. Here's a breakdown of the most pressing issues:
Margin Pressure and Rising Costs
Labor shortages (especially in nursing and tech roles) drive up wages and reliance on contract labor. Additionally, supply chain disruptions and inflation increase the cost of medical supplies and equipment. Sage Intacct can help CFOs in these areas by enabling them to track KPIs like cost per patient, revenue per location and profit and loss by contract. CFOs can also use the software to monitor cash flow at risk and emergency room volume.
Regulatory Complexity
CFOs must navigate a maze of changing healthcare laws, including price transparency, Medicaid reform and value-based care mandates. Sage Intacct can help CFOs by simplifying reporting across federal, state and private programs, including Medicaid, Medicare and grant-funded initiatives.
Shifting Reimbursement Models
CFOs must forecast and manage risk-based contracts, which are harder to predict and optimize. Sage Intacct automates complex revenue processes, helping CFOs accurately recognize revenue across diverse payment models and reduce manual errors and billing disputes.
Driving Success Using Sage Intacct Healthcare ERP Software
Sage Intacct enables CFOs to drive strategic success by delivering real-time financial insights, automation and scalability in multiple ways.
1. Embrace Technological Advancements
By harnessing predictive analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning, CFOs can derive actionable insights that support cost management, improve patient care delivery and enhance overall operational efficiency.
Sage Copilot — built into Sage Intacct — can help immensely with this process. Sage Copilot is a generative AI-powered assistant designed specifically for finance teams and is embedded directly within Sage Intacct, meaning it works seamlessly with existing workflows, data and financial processes.
2. Focus on Value-based Financial Management
Transitioning the financial focus from service volume to patient value is essential. It entails driving initiatives that align fiscal objectives with quality patient outcomes.
Sage Intacct can help CFOs in this area by enabling data that aligns financial strategy with clinical outcomes. For instance, Sage Intacct helps CFOs evaluate the cost-effectiveness of treatments and improve care delivery without compromising financial performance.
3. Strengthen Risk Management Frameworks
Expanding risk management to encompass not just classical financial risks but also operational risks associated with technological integration and comprehensive compliance strategies can mitigate unforeseen financial losses.
Implementing robust cybersecurity measures is vital to safeguarding sensitive data, ensuring compliance with regulations and maintaining institutional integrity. Sage Intacct provides real-time alerts for anomalies, missing data or suspicious transactions, helping CFOs respond proactively.
4. Agility in Financial Planning
Agile financial planning and sophisticated scenario analysis prepare organizations for the swift changes intrinsic to external environments. Developing dynamic forecasting models helps CFOs rapidly adapt to market fluctuations and policy shifts, ensuring the organization remains resilient and poised for strategic opportunities.
Sage Intacct provides real-time data for dynamic forecasting, predictive analytics and scenario modeling, and automation of budgeting and forecasting workflows.
Case Study: CFO Leadership Using Sage Intacct Solutions
Lisa is the CFO of a healthcare organization comprised of five hospitals, 12 outpatient clinics and 3,000 employees. As the organization grows, it is experiencing rising operational costs, declining reimbursement rates and fragmented financial data across departments. Lisa decides to take steps to improve the situation.
Step 1: Financial Visibility and Forecasting
Lisa works with a trusted Sage Partner and implements Sage Intacct to unify financial data across all facilities. With real-time dashboards, she gains visibility into:
- Department-level Profitability
- Patient Revenue Trends
- Supply Chain Costs
Using predictive analytics, she identifies that orthopedic services are growing 12% annually, while cardiology is declining. She reallocates budget and resources accordingly.
Step 2: Operational Planning and Efficiency
Lisa collaborates with department heads using integrated long-range planning tools. She:
- Models staffing needs based on patient volume forecasts
- Automates budget roll-ups across clinics
- Simulates cost impacts of new equipment purchases
This leads to a 15% reduction in overtime costs and a more agile response to seasonal patient surges.
Step 3: Risk Management and Compliance
Lisa deploys a compliance dashboard that tracks HIPAA and financial audit metrics. She:
- Flags billing anomalies before audits
- Ensures vendor contracts meet regulatory standards
- Monitors cybersecurity risks tied to patient data
Her proactive approach prevents a potential $250K penalty from a billing error.
Step 4: Strategic Decision-making
Lisa presents quarterly insights to the board:
- ROI on telehealth expansion
- Financial impact of value-based care contracts
- Capital planning for a new outpatient surgery center
Her data-backed recommendations led to a $5M investment in remote care, projected to increase patient access by 30% in rural areas.
In this scenario, Lisa’s leadership transforms the finance function from reactive to strategic. The organization improves margins by 8%, enhances care delivery, and strengthens its long-term sustainability.
Cherry Bekaert Is Your Sage Guide Forward
As a top five national Sage Partner and a top 10 value-added reseller of Sage Intacct, Cherry Bekaert helps healthcare organizations thrive by delivering powerful ERP solutions through a comprehensive Sage product suite.
Our team brings deep insight and hands-on experience to every engagement — guiding you through implementation and beyond with strategic support that enables you to get the most from your Sage investment.
We are also proud to be a Sage Platinum Club winner for 2024, an honor we’ve earned for three consecutive years. This prestigious recognition highlights our leadership in sales, innovation in service delivery and strong collaboration with Sage. Contact us today to get started on your journey to enhancing your financial management process using the power of Sage Intacct.
