Weekly roundup
Here’s what you missed last week!
🏛️ Policy & Payers
Compliance costs for the prior authorization final rule could reach $5M as one-third of payers have yet to start building required APIs.
Administrative burdens may ease as insurers committed to reforming prior authorization in 2025 ahead of new federal regulations.
Overhead costs for plans may rise as the Trump administration proposes stricter price transparency requirements for health insurers.
Practice margins and patient access face uncertainty under federal plans to implement Medicaid cuts and work requirements.
📈 Business & Tech
Patient access remains hindered by a referral process that functions more as an administrative bottleneck than a clinical tool.
Strategic planning for 2026 should prioritize digital care and AI partnerships to navigate ongoing policy shifts.
Operational success in a tight market requires balancing mission and margin according to financial leaders managing modern medical groups.
⭐ Just for Fun
The Deep Dive
A note to close out the year
As the calendar winds down and inboxes begin to quiet, we wanted to pause before turning the page.
This past year asked a great deal of independent practices. Beyond volume or output, it demanded adaptability and steady decision-making. Over time, it became clear that running a practice today requires more intention than it once did, even in areas that used to feel straightforward.
That’s the space The Practice Layer was created to hold.
This newsletter isn’t meant to be a how-to guide or a playbook. It exists to step back from the day-to-day and reflect on the broader forces shaping independent practice ownership, including the pressures, tradeoffs, and recurring patterns that don’t always surface in dashboards or reports.
As the industry moves forward, those forces continue to shift. Expectations change. Administrative complexity remains. And definitions of what it means to run a “healthy” practice keep evolving. Having space to reflect can help make sense of that movement.
In the months ahead, The Practice Layer will continue to focus on industry-level conversations and point-of-view-driven reflections meant to spark recognition and discussion.
Before the pace picks back up, we want to thank you for spending time with us this year. Whether you read every issue or just a few, we appreciate being part of your inbox and your thinking.
We’ll see you in the new year!
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That’s it for this week.
This one was super fun. Hope you enjoyed it too.
