The Healthcare Affordability Crisis Is Coming, and AI May Be the Only Way Out with Dugan Winkie, Head of Commercial Strategy for Cedar

This podcast is brought to you by Outcomes Rocket, your exclusive healthcare marketing agency. Learn how to accelerate your growth by going to⁠ outcomesrocket.com Patients are now the fastest-growing payer group in healthcare, and providers must adapt their financial strategies accordingly. In this episode, Dugan Winkie, Head of Commercial Strategy for Cedar, addresses the growing healthcare affordability crisis, fueled by the rise of self-pay patients and high-deductible health plans. He introduces Cedar’s AI agent, Kora, which helps reduce billing-related inbound calls by up to 30% through personalized, data-driven support that integrates with payors, HSAs, Medicaid, and more. Dugan stresses that as patients bear more of the financial responsibility, health systems must move beyond generic portals and adopt tailored billing strategies. He advises CFOs to view patients as key financial stakeholders and to partner with AI vendors who can prove real-world impact, not just promise innovation. Tune in and learn how smarter financial engagement and actionable AI can help health systems survive tighter margins and better serve their patients! Resources: Connect with and follow Dugan Winkie on LinkedIn. Follow Cedar on LinkedIn and explore their website! Listen to Dugan’s previous episode on our podcast here!