Kaiser Permanente CEO talks about acquiring more hospital systems | HLTH 2024

Las Vegas - Kaiser Permanente CEO Greg Adams says Risant Health is just beginning.

Kaiser Permanente CEO Greg Adams spoke at the HLTH Conference Sunday. He said Risant Health, a Kaiser subsidiary, is looking to acquire more community hospital systems.

Risant, a Kaiser Permanente subsidiary, just completed the acquisition of the Geisinger health system in Pennsylvania about six months ago. Speaking at the HLTH conference Sunday, Adams said Risant Health is looking to acquire more additional community hospital systems in the coming years.

Adams said Risant is looking to acquire five or six community hospital systems in the coming years. He also said that Risant is in discussions about potential acquisitions but he wouldn’t disclose potential deals.

In a discussion with Alexandra Drane, co-founder and CEO of Archangels, Adams said talked about the qualities he’s seeking in new additions to Risant Health. He said he’s looking to add community hospitals that have demonstrated a commitment to value-based care.

“One of the things I’ve learned is there are many community health systems that are on the journey to be a value-based care organization,” Adams said Sunday.

But he said some are challenged to maintain that commitment or are struggling to bring those plans to fruition. That’s where Risant Health can make a difference, by leveraging Kaiser Permanente’s strengths and tools to help local health systems.

“We’re looking for organizations that are committed to value-based care … we’re looking for organizations that are leaders in their community,” Adams said.

However, Adams said that Risant isn’t planning to acquire hospital systems that are in dire economic straits and struggling to stay afloat.

“We’re looking for organizations that on their own can be financially sound,” Adams said.

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‘We can change healthcare’

Risant Health announced plans in June to acquire Cone Health, based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Cone includes four acute care hospitals, a behavioral health facility, a health plan, and an accountable care organization caring for nearly 200,000 patients.

Adams acknowledged that the creation of Risant Health in 2023, and the plan to acquire more community hospital systems, caught some by surprise. But he said that Kaiser was one of the first organizations to widely base value-based care, and among the first to focus on improving health equity. He said Kaiser Permanente has shown the organization can evolve and innovate.

And Adams outlined a lofty goal before the audience of healthcare leaders.

“We can change healthcare in this country,” Adams said.

When asked why community hospital systems would want to be acquired by Risant Health, Adams pointed to the possibility of aiding the mission of value-based care and improving their financial position. He said the goal is to improve the cost structure of organizations by 2-3%, and he said he thinks that could be “conservative.”

Since Risant completed the acquisition of Geisinger in April, Adams said Geisinger is approaching a 1% improvement in its margin.

“This is real and it’s an opportunity to lift up these systems,” Adams said.

Adams said the goal is to allow community health systems to care for their communities but also be “powered by Risant” so that they can succeed.

While Adams talked about giving systems tools to improve care in their communities, he also said he saw the potential for Kaiser Permanente to gain some lessons that could benefit the entire organization.

“We want to bring those innovations back into Kaiser Permanente,” Adams said.

A moment to lead

For Kaiser Permanente, Adams said the focus remains on providing high-quality, affordable healthcare and delivering on outcomes. He also stressed the idea of making the healthcare experience better for patients.

“Our consumer expectation of healthcare has changed,” Adams said. “People want access, they want answers, they want transparency.”

Kaiser Permanente has been focusing more on its consumers and returning to a service culture, Adams said. He talked about working to eliminate pain points.

He also talked about measuring the consumer experience in a different way. Rather than just evaluating how Kaiser Permanente is doing at handling patients’ problems, Adams said he wants the system to anticipate members’ issues and tackle them before patients get frustrated.

Adams also acknowledged that a key component of taking better care of the system’s members involves taking care of Kaiser Permanente’s caregivers.

“We’re focused on supporting our employees, our physicians, our clinicians,” Adams said.

Adams was one of the featured speakers on the first day of the HLTH conference, and the theme of the event is “Be bold.”

Before wrapping up a conversation that lasted about 25 minutes, Adams encouraged the audience of healthcare leaders to think big.

“We’re in an amazing period in this country and an amazing period in healthcare,” Adams said.

Even with all of America’s technological advances, Adams said, “Our healthcare system is not living up to its full potential. It’s up to us to think about what the system should be.”

“It’s a moment for us to lead,” he said. “It’s a moment for us to be bold. It’s a moment for us to take risks.”