Senior Health Finance Leaders with 100 Billion market cap gather in Orlando to Reimagine the Patient Experience

Senior Health Finance Leaders with  $100 billion market cap gather in Orlando to Reimagine the Patient Experience

 By Jack Pagano
Jack@thetampapost.com

 

For three days at the Ritz‑Carlton in Orlando, medical finance leaders from across the country gathered in search of something close to Disney‑level magic. CFOs, VPs of Finance, and Revenue Cycle Executives arrived with a shared mission: to rethink how healthcare organizations can deliver a better, more humane patient experience in an increasingly complex financial landscape.

The Healthcare Finance Institute, part of a national series of executive‑level conferences hosted by the International Performance Management Institute (IPMI), has become a trusted space for candid conversations about the challenges facing hospitals and health systems. With rising costs, shrinking margins, and growing patient frustration, leaders say the need for collaboration has never been greater.

 

Orlando, Fl.  At the Healthcare Finance Institute, CFO of Valleywise Health, Steve Purvis (R ) talks to a group attending the 3-day conference. (photo by Jack Pagano)

 

Setting the Tone: “Exceptional Care Without Exception”

 Steve Purvis, CFO of Valleywise Health, opened the event with a message that resonated throughout the conference. With 13 years of leadership in Phoenix and more than 5,000 employees under his guidance, Purvis has witnessed firsthand how complicated the financial side of healthcare has become.  “All I want to do in life is provide exceptional care without exception, every patient, every time,” he said.

It’s a bold aspiration in a system where medical billing, insurance requirements, and financial navigation often overwhelm patients. Purvis emphasized that improving the patient experience requires simplifying the financial journey — something no single organization can accomplish alone.

Purvis is far from the only leader calling for change. Across the conference, executives echoed the same message: healthcare must become more accessible, more affordable, and far less confusing.

 

Orlando, Fl.  At the Healthcare Finance Institute, CFO Julian Vestarel (l) and VP of Business Development, Professional Andrew Herkert (R) discuss strategy during the Ritz-Charlton introduction dinner. (photo by Jack Pagano)

 

Serving Remote Communities: A Texas Perspective

CFO Julian Vestarel of the Shannon Clinic in San Angelo, Texas, brought a sense of urgency — and optimism — to the discussion. His organization serves some of the most remote regions in the state, where access to care can be a matter of geography as much as economics. “Our community‑based group is very important, serving close to 400,000 people across 24 counties. We serve anyone with a health issue, no matter what,” Vestarel said. “I came to the conference to network and learn. I want to be as good as any medical organization.”

For Vestarel, the challenge is not just financial sustainability but ensuring that rural communities receive the same quality of care as major metropolitan areas. Conferences like this one, he said, help leaders share strategies that can be adapted to different environments.

Orlando, FL. Amazon AI service speakers were at the Healthcare Finance Institute.  Their goal: showcase what Amazon can do for the financial healthcare industry. (photo by Jack Pagano)

 

A System Under Pressure

Throughout the event, one theme surfaced repeatedly: hospitals are under immense financial strain.  Andrew Herkert, VP of Business Development for Revenue Cycle Management at Professional, works with organizations across the medical spectrum to improve the accuracy and integrity of their financial data. He didn’t mince words about the severity of the situation.

“Many people don’t realize that most hospitals are only 30 to 60 days away from being completely underwater,” he said.

For Herkert, the solution lies in strengthening revenue integrity — ensuring hospitals are properly capturing the dollars they’ve already earned. His team focuses on repairing and optimizing the revenue cycle, a process that can mean the difference between stability and crisis.

 

Orlando, FL.  At the Healthcare Finance Institute medical conference, a roundtable of thoughts, ideas and how to make life better for patients across America. (photo by Jack Pagano)

 

A Place for Strategy, Not Just Talk

Jason Salgado, CFO of Penn Health, says the Healthcare Finance Institute stands out among the many conferences he attends. “We discuss strategy, and we want to fix the problem and the system,” he said.  Salgado noted that the healthcare system is already complex — and when insurance requirements are layered on top, the challenges multiply.

Orlando, FL.  CFO of Penn Health, Jason Salgado is all smiling after addressing a group about medical practices and alliances.

 

Leaders at the conference are working to untangle that complexity, but they acknowledge the scale of the task. No one expects overnight solutions, but they agree that progress requires collaboration, transparency, and a willingness to rethink long‑standing processes.

The Human Element

While technology, data, and financial models dominated many sessions, the conference closed with a reminder of what’s at stake. VP of Business Development Sandra Pinette of Professional captured the sentiment shared by many attendees: “We are always striving for better technology and better solutions to daily problems, but we need to remember that healthcare is human.”

Her words underscored the central theme of the event — that behind every billing code, every financial decision, and every operational challenge is a patient trying to navigate a system that often feels overwhelming.

 

Looking Ahead

As the conference wrapped up, leaders left Orlando with new ideas, new partnerships, and a renewed commitment to improving the patient experience. The challenges facing healthcare finance are significant, but the energy in the room suggested a shared belief that progress is possible — and that collaboration is the path forward.

In a world where the financial side of healthcare can feel as complicated as the clinical side, gatherings like the Healthcare Finance Institute offer something increasingly rare: a space for honest dialogue, shared solutions, and a collective vision for a better, more compassionate system.

 

Jack Pagano is a retired Army field grade officer with many decades of Information Operations experience and currently working remotely in the USA as COO/Strategist for one of Afghanistan’s biggest Radio/TV networks.  His current mission is getting out Afghan journalists he trained, and mentored who are stuck, stranded under the Sharia-driven Taliban.