The 2026 Provider CFO Playbook: Early Warning Forecasting, Service Line Portfolio Discipline, Marketing ROI & Executive Readiness
1:00 – 2:00 pm ET
Health and human services provider organization chief financial officers (CFOs) are heading into 2026 with reimbursement pressure, cost volatility, more aggressive payer behavior, and increased competition for volume. The difference between organizations that hold their margin and those that don’t is often found in their management infrastructure.
In this one-hour live presentation, OPEN MINDS Senior Associates Raymond Wolfe, J.D., and Rick Rowley will cover four priority frameworks from the OPEN MINDS financial sustainability and resiliency model—financial forecasting, strengthening service portfolios, modernizing marketing infrastructure, and building the executive agility required for the years ahead. These are the areas executives are leaning on most in 2026 to protect cash, make faster calls, and fund growth with discipline.
Executive attendees will learn:
- How CFOs are building an early-warning system using driver-based forecasting, a small key performance indicator (KPI) set, and clear thresholds that trigger action before problems show up in the close.
- How to run service line portfolio discipline that goes beyond volume and margin, and supports clear decisions to invest, fix, partner, or exit.
- How to manage marketing infrastructure as a financial asset, linking spend to service line priorities, payer strategy, and measurable return on investment (ROI).
- What executive readiness looks like in 2026, including scenario planning, decision rights, and a disciplined approach to artificial intelligence (AI) and automation investments tied to cost structure and throughput.
Featured Speakers
-
Rick Rowley, Senior Associate, OPEN MINDSRick Rowley brings over 10 years of experience driving improved performance, quality, and costs of the health care system to OPEN MINDS as a Senior Associate. Mr. Rowley is focused on bringing together health care physicians, provider organizations, health care payers, and data-driven strategies. Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Rowley was the Chief Data & Analytics Officer at the State of Colorado, Behavioral Health Administration. In this role, he designed and implemented the Colorado behavioral health performance monitoring system, which focused on the impact of care across privately and publicly funded services including health care, criminal justice, and social services. Mr. Rowley served as the state’s subject matter expert on quality and performance measures for behavioral/mental health services, grants, and contracts worth over $200 million annually. -
Raymond Wolfe, J.D. Senior Associate, OPEN MINDSRaymond “Ray” Wolfe, J.D. brings over 40 years of experience in the health and human services sector to the OPEN MINDS team. His areas of expertise include managed care and value-based reimbursement models, financial analysis and management, mergers and acquisitions, CCBHC certification, integrated care, performance improvement, and strategic planning. Before joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Wolfe served in a 22-year tenure with Pittsburgh Mercy Health System in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Most recently, Mr. Wolfe served as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), where he was responsible for oversight of all system operations, strategic planning, and performance management. Under his direction, Pittsburgh Mercy achieved Certified Behavioral Health Center status, earned over $850K in value-based reimbursement contract quality bonus awards, integrated three organizations through merger/acquisition, opened a primary care service that was integrated into programming for the severe and persistent mentally ill and homeless populations, and adopted a new performance management program for managers.
Registration is free and requires an OPEN MINDS Circle account, which you consent to OPEN MINDS creating on your behalf if one does not exist. For access to the full line of market intelligence including executive briefings, industry news, state and organizational profiles, RFPs, and datasets from the specialty health and human services market contact us at 855-559-6827 or info@openminds.com to become an OPEN MINDS member.