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Rae Woods of Advisory Board will present insights from the 2026 State of the Healthcare Industry, examining how long-standing assumptions about the control of care delivery are beginning to unravel. As patients, purchasers, and policymakers grow increasingly frustrated with misalignment across the system, healthcare leaders are being forced to rethink who holds influence, how access is sustained, and where accountability truly sits.

This session explores three major shifts shaping today’s healthcare landscape. First, access to care—particularly within the safety net—is approaching a tipping point, with coverage pressures, rural provider vulnerability, and pharmacy instability contributing to a growing patchwork of services dependent on private and local support. Second, traditional purchaser spend management strategies are reaching their limits, prompting payers to rely more heavily on niche experts, new benefit designs, and targeted programs to manage cost and utilization. Finally, care decision-making power is expanding beyond clinicians alone, as patients, medical group ownership, direct-to-consumer channels, and AI-enabled tools increasingly influence treatment choices.

Designed for healthcare leaders across clinical, administrative, planning, and design disciplines, this discussion provides context—not predictions—on how these dynamics intersect within regional ecosystems. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the forces reshaping healthcare today and the considerations leaders must weigh as control diffuses across an increasingly complex network of stakeholders.