2026 Healthcare Finance Strategy: New Benchmarks to Improve Margin

Replace lagging revenue cycle metrics with labor-effectiveness benchmarks, AI automation, prereg fixes and vendor transparency to boost margins by 2026.

In 2026, improving operational margin will require more than relying on traditional RCM metrics. Rising denials, shrinking reimbursement, and growing administrative costs are exposing the limits of lagging indicators like days in A/R and clean claim rate. To drive stronger financial performance, healthcare leaders must adopt benchmarks that measure labor effectiveness, prevent upstream errors, and use automation where it delivers measurable ROI. 

About Matt Seefeld

Matt Seefeld, Chief Executive Officer at MedEvolve, brings over 24 years of management consulting experience in the healthcare industry. He has extensive expertise in the assessment, design and implementation of process improvement programs and technology development across the entire revenue cycle. Matt began his career with Stockamp & Associates, Inc. and worked for both PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Deloitte Consulting LLP in their healthcare and life sciences practice lines. In 2007, he developed a business intelligence solution and founded Interpoint Partners, LLC, where he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In 2011, he sold his business to Streamline Health Solutions where he then served as Chief Strategist of Revenue Cycle followed by Senior Vice President of Solutions Strategy until 2014. Matt ran global sales for NantHealth and provided consulting services for healthcare technology and service businesses nationwide, prior to joining MedEvolve full-time.

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From Benchmarks to Breakthroughs: Real Clients, Real Results

For organizations looking to get ahead of these pressures, modernizing how revenue cycle performance is measured is a critical first step. This MGMA webinar explores how leading healthcare organizations are moving beyond lagging RCM benchmarks to adopt leading metrics that reveal wasted work earlier—before it erodes margins and staff capacity.

RCM leaders often see the results of problems without clarity on what drives them. View the side-by-side matrix linking lagging RCM indicators to leading metrics that can be used to proactively improve performance, and watch the video for explanation. Effective Intelligence® RCM automation will tell you leading metrics in real time, so you can make real time decisions–not end of month after the damage is done.

Effective Intelligence: Our comprehensive RCM automation solution

Effective Intelligence combines Patient Financial Clearance Automation, Medical Billing Workflow Automation, and Real-Time RCM Analytics in a cloud-based platform designed to integration with your current EMR/PM technology to measure the effectiveness of your RCM staff.

Review and assess your practice’s financial status in 5 min or less and know exact where you are losing money and why. Measure the work effort of every revenue cycle employee, incentivize and retain your top performers, and help employees that need improvement.

You can prevent most common denials, rejections and write-offs during the scheduling and pre-registration process in advance of the appointment. Configure checkpoints and use central task management to quickly clear patients and keep your front office staffing needs at a minimum.

As team members log in to the web-based application and record each “touch” of a claim,  outcome, and next task, key data points are recorded like who completed the task and when, outcome, task notes, internal / external messages sent, collection success and other data points that feed into our real-time analytics.

Reduce RCM labor dependence with financial clearance, insurance A/R, & patient A/R automation modules with real-time analytics.

Increase productivity and simplify front & back office processes while keeping your staff focused with our flagship PM system.

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