The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Annual Conference in Denver brought together 3,500+ healthcare leaders, and the energy was electric. With discussions spanning payer-provider collaboration, financial sustainability and cutting-edge technology integration, this year's conference delivered powerful insights into the future of healthcare finance.
At the heart of these conversations was a clear message: healthcare organizations need more intelligent approaches to revenue cycle management (RCM).
The conference opened with impactful insights from industry leaders who addressed the strategic challenges facing healthcare finance today.
Jonathan Wiik, VP of Health Insights at FinThrive, kicked off the conference from the seat of his home chapter, HFMA Colorado. He welcomed attendees to Colorado, shared some fun facts about the state and encouraged everyone to connect while here: “It’s the reason we gather,” he shared, adding, “To drive innovation and ideas, we need to engage with each other through our networks and collaboration.”
C. Ann Jordan, President & CEO of HFMA, set the tone by emphasizing the organization's commitment to driving meaningful change in healthcare finance. The Richard C. Clark Award was presented to Dan Liljenquist, Chief Strategy Officer at Intermountain Health, recognizing his exceptional work treating millions of patients and collaborating with numerous payers and hospitals.
A standout keynote panel featured prominent leaders discussing strategic solutions for healthcare finance challenges. Robin Damschroder from Henry Ford Health focused on financial sustainability and community care, while Chelsea Glenn from Northwell Direct emphasized employer partnerships and revenue diversification. Marcus Whitney from Jumpstart Nova highlighted the critical importance of investing in innovation.
The panelists addressed the urgent need for diversified revenue streams and innovative approaches to healthcare finance, including direct-to-employer models and stronger payer engagement to ensure sound payment structures.
Andrew Donahue had a session on the happenings in Washington, D.C., and led a crucial session on federal policy forecasts, highlighting potential impacts of upcoming legislation. H.R. 1, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was a cornerstone conversation in most of the sessions at HFMA Annual this year. Discussions surrounded funding reforms to Medicaid, ACA, and other health policy, as well as their implications for healthcare providers. All the sessions emphasized the need to remain agile in response to these shifting policies.
Another significant session focused on navigating the complex regulatory landscape, where experts discussed challenges posed by medical debt and the critical role of cyber resilience in healthcare finance. The panel stressed the importance of proactive measures to protect patient data and help ensure compliance with evolving regulations.
The final day featured forward-looking discussions on AI's role in RCM. Experts provided insights on how AI can enhance operational efficiency and improve patient care outcomes while addressing concerns about data security and ethical implications of AI in healthcare.
The closing keynote by Amy Walter shared her perspective on the political climate's impact on healthcare policy, highlighting the importance of staying informed and engaged in advocacy efforts. She emphasized the need for healthcare leaders to navigate political complexities to ensure sustainable healthcare services.
Intelligent automation is critical to RCM excellence and FinThrive answered that call with groundbreaking innovations that transform how providers recover revenue and optimize financial performance for sustained profitability.
In this area, FinThrive unveiled FinThrive Fusion™, a first-of-its-kind RCM Data Intelligence Platform that represents a fundamental shift in how to approach RCM. Built on a modern data fabric, Fusion unifies fragmented data across EHRs, billing systems and payer portals into a centralized data lake – unlocking the full potential of AI and automation.
The platform delivers several key advantages:
FinThrive CTO, John Landy, explained, "We're not just delivering smarter tools — we're delivering the infrastructure that makes AI, automation and analytics work better, faster and at scale."
Another exciting announcement was unveiling FinThrive’s technology investments in Agentic AI capabilities. Unlike traditional tools that follow rigid rules, Agentic AI uses intelligent digital agents to make decisions, optimize workflows and handle complex tasks. The result? Faster revenue recovery, smoother operations and the ability to adapt to real-time changes in payer behavior.
Why Agentic AI stands out:
The first deployment of these digital agents will help our clients in payer appeals, specifically in resolving denials, resubmitting claims and writing off small balances.
A highlight at the booth and conversations with FinThrive customers was the Denials & Underpayments Analyzer (DUA) which tackles two of the most persistent revenue challenges in healthcare. The tool helps providers convert payer data noise into actionable financial insights, pinpointing denial patterns and underpayment trends.
The impact is substantial. A 12-month analysis across 117 providers revealed more than 32% of medical claims were underpaid, totaling over $5 billion in uncollected reimbursements. DUA can drive recoveries up to 20% higher than traditional approaches, with opportunities as high as 40% for select denial types when documentation is available. Denials have been a pervasive issue, and this technology is specifically engineered to mitigate rework, focus on the root cause and drive sustained revenue recoveries for the long term.
Our Chief Growth Officer, Evan Goad, alongside Mike Vigo from UC San Diego Health, presented compelling insights on connecting RCM technology adoption to financial performance. Their presentation highlighted how leading organizations have utilized our Revenue Cycle Technology Adoption Model (RCMTAM) to achieve measurable financial improvements.
Since launching in late 2023, over 150 organizations have completed the RCMTAM assessment, with two achieving the coveted Stage 5 level of end-to-end optimization and advanced revenue intelligence.
HFMA Annual 2025 demonstrated that the healthcare finance industry is at a pivotal moment. The convergence of advanced AI capabilities, intelligent data platforms and strategic technology adoption is creating unprecedented opportunities for revenue optimization and operational excellence.
The insights shared throughout the conference, from our groundbreaking technology announcements to the strategic discussions led by industry pioneers, paint a clear picture of healthcare finance's future. Organizations that embrace these innovations and invest in modern, intelligent RCM platforms will be best positioned to thrive in an increasingly complex healthcare landscape.
As we continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare revenue management, the partnerships and insights gained at HFMA 2025 will undoubtedly shape the strategies and solutions that drive our industry forward. The future of healthcare finance is intelligent, integrated and increasingly automated, and that future is happening now.
Learn about all that FinThrive is doing to help hospitals and health systems build sustainable revenue performance.