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Our Research

In 2026, Advisory Board is researching the most important trends and innovations shaping healthcare — including hospital margins, primary care, AI in revenue cycle management, and service line growth. Our research will help organizations understand emerging challenges and opportunities in healthcare, and make informed decisions for long-term success.
2026 Research Agenda

State of the industry

  • What are the pivotal shifts happening in healthcare right now, and how are industry stakeholders responding?
  • How will technology, workforce, policy, and capital changes affect the future of care delivery, financing, and innovation?
  • What do executives need to know about healthcare that could affect their strategy for the next 5 to 10 years?

Health plan operational efficiency

  • How can health plans streamline operations to drive down administrative costs, improve member experience, and take advantage of Al?

Health system market archetypes

  • What are the different growth models for health systems depending on variable market characteristics?
  • How can we classify the growth models for strategic guidance and prescriptive growth plans?

Health system pharmacy

  • How are hospitals and health systems evolving their drug purchasing and formulary decisions amid changing financial and policy incentives?

Service line market trends and service line growth

  • What are the emerging trends that leaders need to plan for in cardiovascular, oncology, women's health, infusion, and orthopedics?
  • How should health systems prioritize services differently for growth? How has margin performance changed across services?
  • How are organizations finding less crowded lanes?

Nursing and workforce

  • How can health systems evolve their workforce to meet the demands of the future?
  • In what ways can nursing advance health systems' operational efficiency and cost-reduction goals, without increasing nurse workload?

AI in revenue cycle and payment integrity

  • What should leaders know about how organizations are using AI today in RCM (revenue cycle management) and PI (payment integrity)?
  • What immediate impacts are we seeing? 
  • What is the future impact of AI in RCM and PI on overall strategy and provider-plan dynamics?

Hospital margin improvement

  • Which operational initiatives have the best yield in margin improvement?
  • What Al applications and solutions are yielding replicable margin improvement within the provider operating business?

Cardiac cath and EP lab efficiency and growth

  • What are the common barriers to cardiac cath and electrophysiology (EP) lab efficiency and growth?
  • What tactics are providers using to keep pace with patient demand?

Health system purchasing

  • Which factors are becoming more (and less) important in provider purchasing decisions as care shifts toward ambulatory settings?

Primary care

  • Primary care has long operated at a loss. Can Al transform the cost base or unlock additional revenue opportunities?

VBC in specialty care

  • How are providers and health plans effectively engaging specialists in value-based care?
  • Which specialists are they prioritizing first?
  • What financial and clinical models are driving successful engagement?

Cancer patient navigation

  • How are organizations improving oncology patient management, adherence to care, and patient retention?
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Email ask@advisory.com to talk with our team about these topics.

Our Research Process

To help leaders make progress on healthcare's toughest challenges, we...

Research the areas that desperately need progress in alignnent with our expansive community of partner organizations

Distill complexity into simple, powerful insights because healthcare is layered, conflicting, and always changing

Equip leaders with practical guidance and confidence to enable bigger thinking and inspire action

Provide multidimensional access to expertise and ideas through digital learning, events, and expert interactions

40+
years focused on healthcare
200+
experts on our team
4,500+
partners across the industry

We do the hard work to fill the need in between

Our research agenda is directly shaped by our members. We are constantly collecting member input and feedback to guide what topics and questions we explore. Learn about our Research Membership and how you can help inform our research.

Our commitment to objectivity

Since its founding, Advisory Board has earned the trust of our members by delivering objective research, analysis, and guidance while upholding the highest standards of confidentiality. Read how we protect our impartiality and find unbiased solutions to the most pressing problems in healthcare. Read our commitment

Our Research Deliverables

Advisory Board offers a variety of types of research to help you understand the market, address a complex problem, and implement new strategies. Below are some examples of the content we create and how you might use our research in your day-to-day work.

  • Quickly understand a market or topic using our quick guides
  • Bring the latest market trends to your next leadership meeting with our ready-to-use slides
  • Identify and implement a novel way to address a problem using our case studies
  • Facilitate discussion and group decision-making using our decision guides
  • Anticipate and prepare for the future using our scenario planners
  • Access tactical guidance to help you execute a strategy using our toolkits
Types of Research We Provide

"Future of" & forecasting

Anticipate and prepare for future market dynamics and disruptions

Multi-sector hot topics

Understand how different industry sectors are approaching complex challenges

Sector intelligence & perspectives

Get into the mind of industry stakeholders and build stronger partnerships

Fundamentals & best practices

Identify and implement proven strategies to improve performance

The topics we're researching

We help leaders and future leaders in the healthcare industry work smarter and faster by providing provocative insights, actionable strategies, and practical tools to support execution.

Research & Events

Company

Support

Social

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