Three Healthcare Experts, One Solution: How to Future-Proof Your Practice When Everything Feels Urgent, EP 235
What happens when a Silicon Valley policy leader, a strategic CFO, and an AI innovation specialist walk into a roundtable about healthcare leadership? They all arrive at the exact same conclusion - independently. And it's the framework Tracy has been teaching practice owners for years.
In this episode, Tracy breaks down her recent "Future-Proofing Healthcare Leadership in 2026" roundtable featuring Marc Chow (CEO of Santa Clara County Medical Association), Aaron Gold (strategic CFO), and Stephen Fogg (healthcare marketing strategist and AI innovation specialist). Despite approaching practice management from completely different angles - policy, finance, and innovation - all three experts confirmed the same fundamental truth about how to actually move forward when the ground keeps shifting.
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If you're feeling overwhelmed by everything coming at you in 2026, this episode gives you permission to simplify. Because complexity isn't your problem - trying to solve everything at once very likely is.
Key Takeaways
The expert consensus: Three heavyweight experts from different domains independently confirmed the same approach - choose what needs the most work, break it down to a simple implementable task, build from there
Policy reality check: Track your baseline on pain points like Medicaid patient volume, uncompensated care, and prior authorization hours before trying to solve the entire system
Financial clarity: Start with one metric - revenue per patient - then segment by patient type to understand which segments are actually sustainable
Innovation without overwhelm: Use Stephen Fogg's four-quadrant framework (great, good, could improve, bad) to identify your worst pain point, then implement ONE tool to address it
The methodology works: Whether you're navigating policy chaos, financial pressure, or innovation overwhelm, the solution is the same - start with one thing, make it implementable, build momentum
Q&A Section
How do you choose what to prioritize when everything feels urgent in your practice? Use Stephen Fogg's four-quadrant assessment: categorize what's great, good, could improve, and bad in your practice. Then focus on fixing your biggest "bad" first - not trying to improve everything simultaneously.
What's the one financial metric practice owners should track closely right now? Revenue per patient. Start broad, then break it down by patient type (Medicare, Medicaid, commercial, cash pay) to understand which segments are profitable. If policy shifts your patient mix, you need to know if that mix is sustainable.
How does the Time Leadership Framework connect to managing policy, finance, and innovation pressures? Both approaches solve for the same problem: how to choose what matters when everything feels urgent. The framework helps you decide what needs your clinical expertise, what can be delegated, what can be systematized, and what can be eliminated - so you're not trying to do everything at once.
What's the first step to take when prior authorizations are burning out your staff? Document your baseline first. Track exactly how many hours per week your staff spends on prior authorizations. That documentation becomes your advocacy ammunition and helps you make the business case for solutions.
Episode Highlights
Why three healthcare experts from different domains all arrived at the same fundamental conclusion about managing overwhelm
The forces reshaping healthcare in 2026: Medicaid cuts affecting 20% of enrollees, prior authorization consuming 10-12 staff hours weekly, and trust erosion in public health institutions
Marc Chow's policy perspective: Start by documenting one pain point this week - not solving the entire system
Aaron Gold's financial strategy: Understanding which patient segments are actually profitable before policy shifts your mix
Stephen Fogg's innovation framework: The four-quadrant assessment for identifying where your practice is hurting most
The AI implementation trap: Why teams get Copilot licenses, nobody gets trained, nobody uses it, and money gets wasted
How Stephen's quadrant framework maps directly onto the Time Leadership Delegation Quadrant
Why complexity is the enemy of implementation - and what to do about it
The validation piece: When independent experts confirm the same methodology from different angles
Memorable Quotes
"Complexity isn't your problem. Trying to solve everything at once very likely is."
"Most practice owners I work with aren't failing because they don't know what needs to be done. They're failing because they're trying to do ALL of it at once."
"You don't need more information. You need clarity on what to prioritize and a simple next step you can actually take."
"Whether the ground is shifting beneath you because of policy changes, financial pressure, or innovation demands - the solution is the same: Start with one thing. Make it simple. Make it implementable. Build momentum."
"Complexity is the enemy of implementation."
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Future-Proofing Healthcare Leadership in 2026 Roundtable Replay - Full 90-minute recording with Marc Chow, Aaron Gold, and Stephen Fogg. Request the replay and highlights document.
Time Leadership Delegation Quadrant - Tracy's framework for deciding what needs your expertise, what to delegate, systematize, or eliminate. Click to request.
Future-proofing your practice in 2026 doesn't mean mastering policy, finance, and innovation simultaneously. It means choosing the one thing causing the most pain right now, taking the simplest first step this week, and building momentum from there. When three experts from completely different domains independently confirm the same approach, that's not coincidence - that's validation of what actually works when you're navigating uncertainty.
Ready to apply this framework to your specific situation? Book a strategy call with Tracy at TracyCherpeski.com to talk through your priorities and build your implementation plan.
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Tracy’s Bio:
Tracy Cherpeski, MBA, MA, CPSC (she/her/hers) is the Founder of Tracy Cherpeski International and Thriving Practice Community. As a Business Consultant and Executive Coach, Tracy helps healthcare practice owners scale their businesses without sacrificing wellbeing. Through strategic planning, leadership development, and mindset mastery, she empowers clients to reclaim their time and reach their potential. Tracy designs and delivers CME-accredited wellness retreats and workshops in partnership with medical associations, bringing burnout prevention and sustainable practice management to physicians nationwide. Based in Chapel Hill, NC, Tracy serves clients worldwide and is the Executive Producer and Host of the Thriving Practice podcast. Her guiding philosophy: Survival is not enough; life is meant to be celebrated.
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