Revenue Cycle Euphoria: Logical Automation and Consumerism

Manual errors. Middle-brain wins. Modest gains. 4sight Health CEO David W. Johnson explores U.S. healthcare’s revenue cycle management system (RCM) and why it’s so resistant to change in this series for hfm Magazine. Through relationships, including his advisory role at SparkChange, Johnson gained a granular view of RCM’s inefficiencies and how incremental, logic-driven automation can improve outcomes in a system wired for dysfunction.

Drawing inspiration from Henry Adams’ third-person autobiography, this final article in a three-part series on revenue cycle management turns a clear-eyed gaze on the tangled mess of RCM in U.S. healthcare and what it will take to fix it. Read his commentary here.

Editor’s note: This article was published in hfm Magazine under the title, “Lessons in Solving the Nation’s Current Revenue Cycle Dilemma,” by the Healthcare Financial Management Association, copyright 2025. It is republished here with permission.

Read the 3-Part Series on “Consumerism, Revenue Cycle and U.S. Healthcare”

Part 1: Consumerism Introduces Itself to U.S. Healthcare

Part 2: Revenue Cycle Dystopia: Olives With No Juice

Part 3: Revenue Cycle Euphoria: Logical Automation and Consumerism

About the Author

David W. Johnson

David Johnson is the CEO of 4sight Health, an advisory company working at the intersection of healthcare strategy, economics, innovation. Johnson is a healthcare thought leader, keynote speaker, and strategic advisor to organizations busting the status-quo to reform our healthcare system. He is the author of Market vs. Medicine: America’s Epic Fight for Better, Affordable Healthcare, and his second book, The Customer Revolution in Healthcare: Delivering Kinder, Smarter, Affordable Care for All (McGraw-Hill 2019). As a speaker, Dave plays the role of rebel, challenger, industry historian, investor and company evaluator to push audiences forward. (Watch bio video.) Johnson applies his 25+ years of investment banking in healthcare to identify ways the healthcare industry must change to deliver better care. He received a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School, an English degree from Colgate University, and served in the African Peace Corp service. Join over 10k+ healthcare executives who read our weekly insights and commentary on www.4sighthealth.com.

Dave wakes up every morning trying to fix America’s broken healthcare system. Prior to founding 4sight Health in 2014, Dave had a long and successful career in healthcare investment banking. He is a graduate of Colgate University and earned a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. Employing his knowledge and experience in health policy, economics, statistics, behavioral finance, disruptive innovation, organizational change and complexity theory, Dave writes and speaks on pro-market healthcare reform. His first book Market vs. Medicine: America’s Epic Fight for Better, Affordable Healthcare, and his second book, The Customer Revolution in Healthcare: Delivering Kinder, Smarter, Affordable Care for All (McGraw-Hill 2019), are available for purchase on www.4sighthealth.com. Get his new book with Paul Kusserow, “The Coming Healthcare Revolution: 10 Forces that Will Cure America’s Healthcare Crisis” now.

May 27, 2025

Revenue Cycle Euphoria: Logical Automation and Consumerism

Read the 3-Part Series on “Consumerism, Revenue Cycle and U.S. Healthcare”

About the Author

David W. Johnson

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