UBCNews - Business - HealthTech CEO Coaching: Success Metrics Healthcare Executives Actually Track

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

Welcome back, everyone! Today we're tackling something that honestly doesn't get enough airtime—the real metrics that Health Tech CEOs are actually tracking. Not the vanity numbers, but the ones that actually move the needle when you're trying to scale an organization. I'm excited to dig into this one. Augmentr Studio City: Toronto Address: 339 1/2 Main Street Website: https://www.augmentrstudio.com/

Welcome back, everyone. Today we're tackling something that honestly doesn't get enough airtime. The real metrics that health tech CEOs are actually tracking. Not the vanity numbers, but the ones that actually move the needle when you're trying to scale an organization. I'm excited to dig into this one. Yeah, I'm glad we're covering this. You know, there's this gap between what people think CEOs should measure and what they're actually using to make high-impact decisions. And in health tech specifically, the stakes are so much higher because you're dealing with patient outcomes, regulatory pressures, and operational complexity all at once. Exactly.

So let's start broad. What are the big categories of KPIs that health tech leaders are focusing on right now? Well, you've got three main buckets, operational, financial, and internal process metrics. Operational KPIs focus on facility performance, things like average hospital stay, which varies based on treatment type, bed turnover, balanced with care quality, and equipment utilization. Financial KPIs measure your top and bottom line, including treatment costs, claims processing, and human capital expenses. Then internal KPIs revolve around staff performance, training, and safety. Right, and I think what's interesting is how these all interconnect.

Like, you can't really optimize your financials if your operational efficiency is suffering, can you? Definitely not. They're completely interdependent. For example, if your average patient wait time is creeping up, that's going to impact patient satisfaction, which then affects your reputation and ultimately your revenue. It's all connected. Hmm, hmm, I hear you. So let's talk about some of those underappreciated metrics, the ones that CEOs maybe didn't focus on early in their careers, but now consider essential. What's rising to the top? Employee engagement scores are a big one. I mean, a lot of leaders used to see this as a nice to have, something for HR to worry about. But what we're seeing now, especially post-pandemic, is that engaged staff directly impacts patient safety, care quality, and overall organizational performance.

When your team feels supported and heard, they perform better, they stay longer, and the quality of care improves measurably. That's huge. Have you ever wondered how much of your organization, success really comes down to culture versus, say, just having the right systems in place. I'd say culture is the foundation. You can have the best systems in the world, but if your people aren't engaged, those systems won't be used effectively. I actually remember working with one CEO who told me, she spent a year trying to fix operations with new software, only to realize her staff turnover was the real issue. Once she focused on engagement, everything else started to click. Wow, that's a perfect example. And there's been this generational shift too, right? What

employees want has changed considerably. Exactly. Leaders who allocate resources based on what they're hearing from their teams, really listening, tend to see better results across the board. So we've established that the human element is critical, but let's not forget the financial realities. What are some key financial metrics that health tech CEOs are tracking now? Days Cash on hand is one that proved invaluable during COVID. This metric measures financial reserves and helps organizations withstand financial shocks. Organizations with strong reserves were able to avoid layoffs and furloughs, even when volumes dropped dramatically.

Some facilities saw ER and OR volumes drop by 50%. But because they had that cushion, they kept their people employed. That's a concrete example of how a metric can literally protect your workforce. What about claims and insurance-related KPIs? Insurance claim processing time is critical for cash flow. Most organizations aim for turnaround times of 30 days or less, though processing times can vary by insurer. As for claims denial rates, the industry average sits between 5 to 10%.

Organizations that keep their rates toward the lower end of that range spend less time on paperwork and more time focusing on patient care. You could say it's the difference between drowning and forms and actually treating people. Ha, I like that. That point about processing time and cash flow, that efficiency piece, sets up our next topic around operational metrics. But first, a quick word from our sponsor. Running a health tech organization in Toronto means handling rising costs,

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All right. picking up on that efficiency piece we just mentioned, how do leaders actually balance operational metrics with quality of care? Because sometimes those can feel like competing priorities. There are actually two sides of the same coin. Take readmission rates, for instance. Lower readmission rates indicate you're delivering proper care the first time, which is both better for patients and more cost-effective.

If patients are being discharged prematurely just to improve bed turnover numbers, you'll see them come right back. That's why you track readmission rates alongside bed turnover. Right, exactly. What about patient safety metrics specifically? Patient safety measures the ability of a hospital to deliver quality care and keep patients safe from new infections or post-op complications. Hospital-acquired infection rates are particularly significant.

Approximately one in 31 patients are affected. Higher HAI rates increase both length of stay and costs, so tracking this closely allows you to identify. identify where problems occur and mitigate the chance of outbreaks. And then there's the whole category of metrics around decision-making itself. Um, how are CEOs evaluating their own management systems? That's a great question. Some leaders have created formal management systems, basically living documents that provide a

framework for executing strategy and meeting goals. These systems cover standard processes and put employee and customer engagement at the core, better management creates better alignment, and that alignment drives better decision-making and stronger results. So almost like having a metametric, measuring how well you're measuring and managing everything else. Exactly. And collective decision-making is part of that. Though difficult to quantify, effective collective decision-making involves creating inclusive environments, gathering diverse viewpoints, and clear leadership. That collaborative approach is often the most significant management tool for guiding resource allocation and strategic decisions.

Let's zoom out for a second. For health tech leaders specifically, what makes their metrics different from, say, traditional health care or pure tech companies? Health tech sits at this intersection where you're dealing with innovation pressure and the accelerating demands of digital and AI transformation, but you're also bound by health care regulations and patient safety standards. You need multifunctional experience to work through that complexity. The metrics have to reflect both the tech side like product innovation and market adoption and the health care side, like clinical outcomes and regulatory compliance. That makes total sense. And I imagine the Canadian health care ecosystem has its own unique considerations too. Specific compliance requirements and

reporting standards? Absolutely. Healthcare organizations in Canada, need to track performance metrics not just for efficiency, but to ensure their meeting regulatory compliance and maintaining financial sustainability. There are specific requirements around access to care, patient experience, and clinical efficiency that leaders have to monitor. And with the shift to hybrid and remote work,

talent management has become even more complex. So to everyone listening, if you're a founder or CEO in this space, what's the one thing you'd want them to take away, about which metrics really matter. Focus on the metrics that tell you whether you're delivering value to patients and building a sustainable organization. Don't just track what's easy to measure. Track what actually drives better outcomes, operational efficiency, and informed decision-making. Track what moves the needle, not just

what fills a dashboard. And make sure you're listening to your team because workforce engagement is one of those underappreciated metrics that touches everything else. I love that. Being intentional with what you measure and understanding that these numbers aren't just for reporting, their tools for building resilient, future-ready organizations. Thanks so much for breaking this down with me today. My pleasure. This stuff really matters, and I hope it helps some leaders think differently about what they're tracking. Same here. All right, everyone. That's it for today. Keep asking the hard questions. Keep measuring what matters. And we'll catch you next time.