We recently hosted an intimate Zus Summit retreat in Portland, Maine, bringing together digital healthcare leaders to explore the evolving world of value-based care. Our mission was clear: to support our partners in navigating healthcare’s complexities and provide the tools for success. This Summit was about more than just sharing insights: it was about laying the groundwork for a future where healthcare isn’t just reactive but always on—where care is proactive, consumer-focused, and data-driven.
We kicked off the Summit with a discussion on the realities of today’s healthcare landscape. The pressures are mounting: the Medicare Advantage enrollment surge, the wave of physician burnout, and a market saturated with point solutions that often add complexity rather than clarity. The reality is, the days when Risk Adjustment Factor (RAF) could serve as a reliable profit center are fading. We need to look ahead and ask ourselves, how will we not just survive, but thrive in this new world?
Our answer is clear: sustainable savings will come from reducing total medical expenditure. And to achieve this, we need to shift to a model where care is always on. This means knowing the full story of each patient, understanding what’s likely to happen next, and being able to intervene in meaningful ways before costs spiral out of control. The future lies in intercepting and treating patients before they get sick.
Throughout the Summit, this theme of “always-on care” emerged as the driving force behind the discussions. We explored what it means to move beyond just collecting patient data to truly understanding it. This isn’t about adding more data points; it’s about creating a unified patient record that captures the complete narrative—past, present, and future. When providers have this comprehensive view, they can make informed decisions that change the place of care, adjust the type of care, and ultimately reduce costs.
The conversation turned to what it takes to make this shift. One point was clear: if you know someone is on a path to becoming expensive, you have the power to step in and change their trajectory. By deeply understanding a patient’s history, care teams can identify the earliest signs of potential complications and proactively address them. This approach isn’t just about treating patients; it’s about fundamentally changing the model of care to focus on prevention, early intervention, and long-term well-being.
But to reach this level of care, the healthcare industry needs to embrace a new mindset—one that recognizes the power of data not as an afterthought but as the foundation for every clinical decision. By building a common patient record, we can break down the silos that have long plagued healthcare and start acting on insights that matter. The Summit reinforced the notion that having the right data in the right hands, at the right time, is how we drive the change needed in value-based care.
It was evident that many of us are grappling with the same challenge: how to sustainably drive savings while delivering high-quality care. The key is to know everything about a patient, not just in the moment, but throughout their journey. It’s about knowing what’s happening now, what will happen next and being ready to do something different. Whether it’s shifting the place of care, adjusting the type of care, or intervening before conditions worsen, the common thread is having a holistic, always-on view of the patient. This is where true value lies.
As the Summit progressed, we focused on what it takes to make this vision a reality. It’s not enough to simply recognize where the opportunities are. We must be prepared to act. Through discussions, demonstrations, and interactive sessions, we unpacked how the right data tools and a proactive mindset can lead to smarter interventions and, ultimately, cost savings. We looked at the power of knowing the patient’s full history—being able to pull in insights from disparate sources to form a single, clear narrative.
Our mission at Zus is to give providers this comprehensive clinical truth in one clear voice in the most places, enabling them to change the course of care. The energy and engagement from our attendees reaffirmed our belief that together, we can drive this change. By shifting toward a model of always-on care, grounded in a deep understanding of each patient, we can sustainably reduce costs while improving outcomes.
The Zus Summit was just the beginning, and it was more than an event – it was a community, a space for learning, and a launchpad for driving change toward a future where information speed is a reality in healthcare.
We are committed to continuing this journey with our partners, helping them to know their patients better and act on that knowledge to transform care.
If you’re ready to build up, not around and explore how an always-on care model can help your organization thrive, reach out to us. Together, we can build a healthcare system that knows the story of every patient and acts on it to create better, more sustainable outcomes—because our patients, providers, and communities deserve nothing less.
