In his second year as president and CEO of Fairfield, Calif.-based NorthBay Health, Mark Behl is prioritizing ambulatory and outpatient care to meet growing demand and diversify revenue streams.
The health system is investing more than $250 million over the next five years in its ambulatory strategy, which includes expanding its network by building neighborhood clinics throughout the region, Mr. Behl told Becker's.
"Bottom line, we want to deliver care close to home," Mr. Behl said. "We want to be in the gathering areas of the community so that we can deepen the relationship that we have with them and deliver a high level of convenience and accessibility."
NorthBay's goal is to provide primary care to new patients within seven days and specialty care within 14 days. Along with shorter wait times and care closer to home, community members have expressed a strong desire for more digital and virtual care options.
"Those are all important elements of our ambulatory network strategy, but we can't lose sight of the importance of inpatient care," Mr. Behl said. "We have to put quality first and foremost in everything that we do."
To support this goal, NorthBay spent about six months developing its acute care strategy, evaluating the inpatient needs of the communities it serves alongside its outpatient expansion efforts.
Looking ahead to 2025, Mr. Behl anticipates the most significant financial challenges facing health systems will continue to be expenses outpacing revenue and payers shifting sites of care from inpatient to outpatient settings. NorthBay is addressing these challenges by diversifying revenue streams with new services and expanding its ambulatory network.
"That's why it's important to invest in those strategies in 2025," he said. "Patients want that, our payers are demanding it, and if we don't fill that demand, then somebody else is going to."
Mr. Behl also expects mergers and acquisitions to remain a key trend throughout the industry in 2025 following a flurry of activity in 2024. NorthBay's approach, he said, is to focus on ensuring alignment with any potential partners while maintaining local governance.
"We want our strategy to drive M&A, not the other way around," Mr. Behl said. "If there's an opportunity to accelerate or achieve that strategy through M&A then we'll take a look at it. I don't think the most valuable opportunities that are out there are front and center today, but they will emerge, and when they do, we have to ensure that they align with our mission, vision and values."
Cultural alignment is essential to this approach, he said.
"We also want to remain independent," he said. "That's our goal — to be a strong, community-based independent health system."