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Think of Finance and Operations as the left and right paddles of a canoe. If they row in sync, the organization glides forward smoothly, but if they paddle in opposite directions, progress stalls and energy is wasted. These two teams sit at the heart of every organization’s ability to grow, adapt, and thrive. Yet in many cases, they still operate in silos, each with its own systems, priorities, and definitions of success.
In practice, Finance and Operations should function as strategic allies. When these roles collaborate effectively, they form a resilient growth engine that fuels smarter decision-making and agile execution across the enterprise.
Traditional Finance systems were built for compliance and reporting, while Operations teams rely on playbooks, experience, and fragmented data. This disconnect frequently results in misaligned goals, delayed reporting, and missed opportunities.
In healthcare, the consequences of this divide are especially pronounced. Many middle-market providers, such as infusion centers, dental practices, and behavioral health clinics, focus on revenue at the office level without fully accounting for the actual cost of doing business. This can result in overstaffing, over-purchasing, and compressed margins that persist unnoticed. Leadership may celebrate top-line growth while profitability quietly erodes.
When Finance and Operations paddle in different directions with one chasing compliance and the other reacting based on instinct, the organization misses opportunities to identify mistakes early and “fail fast.”
The solution starts with cross-functional visibility. Regular reviews of profit and loss (P&L) statements, department-specific key performance indicators (KPIs), and actively monitored budgets help establish a common language of success. When Finance and Operations apply consistent metrics and definitions, they can set shared goals, celebrate wins, and course-correct quickly.
This transparency allows every department to work from the same playbook, driving accountability and enabling smarter, data-driven growth.
To achieve strategic alignment, it requires involving all key stakeholders in the planning process, including Finance, internal and external support teams, Operations managers, and even Human Resources and Marketing. When financial and operational data is accurate and accessible, leadership can set realistic goals, track progress monthly, and make informed investment decisions.
Organizational success is fundamentally shaped by culture. High-performing companies cultivate transparency, accountability, and adaptability, usually anchored by a unified dashboard that becomes the North Star guiding every tactical conversation. This shared view empowers teams to fail fast by detecting issues early, iterating rapidly, and making timely adjustments before problems compound.
When strategic plans are tightly integrated with real-time performance data and supported by broad organizational buy-in, companies gain the flexibility to respond to dynamic market conditions without compromising coherence.
In contrast, even well-intentioned approaches can falter when departments lack guidance on how to recalibrate budgets, reallocate resources, or adjust priorities. For agility to take root, planning frameworks must be both data-driven and culturally embedded.
Once cultural alignment is in place, modern technology systems help bridge the gap between Finance and Operations. Many organizations today use integrated platforms like Power BI and NetSuite to allow leaders across departments to ingest and analyze large datasets, identify margin drivers, and generate reliable forecasts.
By leveraging diverse data sources, including financial reports, practice management metrics, and supply chain information, teams can enhance forecast precision, optimize resource allocation, mitigate operational risks, and elevate overall performance.
However, technology alone isn’t enough. Sustainable impact requires strategic interpretation and cross-functional alignment. Finance and Operations must co-define objectives, such as increasing profitability, improving operational efficiency, or scaling sustainably, and view progress through a shared lens.
In this collaborative model, Finance sets the course by allocating resources based on performance insights and projections, while Operations executes with agility and precision to propel the organization forward.
When both teams rely on a common dashboard and interpret data through a cohesive strategy, they enable smarter decision-making across all stakeholders, resulting in stronger financial health, accelerated momentum, and a more resilient operating model.
Middle market healthcare leaders may face a perplexing paradox: as their practices expand in volume and revenue, margins continue to shrink. The causes are often buried deep in the fragmented data, hidden behind legacy pricing models, inaccurate product-level cost tracking, or siloed reporting systems. Without the right technology and analytical capabilities, leadership may struggle to isolate the drivers of profitability.
Finance and Operations frequently look at different metrics and dashboards, drawing conclusions from incomplete or misaligned information. This disconnect can lead to counterproductive outcomes that have negative impacts on certain areas. For example, incentive compensation that doesn’t account for profitability and leads to operating losses.
To prevent blind spots, organizations must connect financial KPIs (e.g., contribution margin, working capital) with operational KPIs (e.g., patient volume, supply utilization, hours worked) and embed them into decision-making. A unified performance framework supports defensible, data-informed actions by enabling leadership to track key metrics in real time and recalibrate swiftly.
For mid-market healthcare companies poised for growth, a coordinated approach and cross-functional visibility are the cornerstones of sustainable, profitable expansion.
When Finance and Operations work in concert, teams create a culture of transparency, agility, and strategic focus, transforming data into decisions, and decisions into sustainable growth.
At Elliott Davis, we deliver flexible support models tailored to your needs, including:
Our team brings firsthand experience building, scaling, and exiting retail healthcare organizations, having led them through rapid growth and successful transactions with sponsors. We work alongside senior financial and accounting leaders to:
From inception to transaction and beyond, Elliott Davis supports healthcare organizations every step of the way.
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The information provided in this communication is of a general nature and should not be considered professional advice. You should not act upon the information provided without obtaining specific professional advice. The information above is subject to change.
