Expansive relationship with HealthTrust supports Beacon Health System’s broader vision
“The financial decisions we make are grounded in a commitment to ensuring Beacon has the resources to deliver outstanding care, inspire health and connect with heart to our community for generations to come,” shares Beacon Health System’s CFO of nearly 35 years, Jeff Costello.
That philosophy has influenced a unique culture at Beacon that starts at the top. With a hands-on executive team that Costello describes as agile and action-oriented, his peers are also known for embracing change and not shying away from new ways of doing things.
Since its founding in 2011, Beacon has evolved into a high-performing, $1.4 billion health system spanning nearly 270 sites of care in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan. However, Costello reflects, “As we grew, the complexity of our operation did as well. By the end of fiscal year 2022, we had experienced a drop in margin performance and knew we needed to act.”
A shared history
As a member of HealthTrust since 2017, Beacon had previously worked with the organization on other performance improvement initiatives.
“We have a history with HealthTrust and view its team as partners committed to supporting our continued growth,” Costello shares.
Based on the success of that work, Costello knew HealthTrust was the ideal partner for the next stage in Beacon’s evolution. He reached out to the Performance Solutions team to deliver comprehensive support and best practices that would not only address some immediate needs but also better position the organization for long-term health and expansion.
The mission: Strengthen system-wide operations by aligning cost, quality and outcomes to drive sustained margin improvement and operational performance.
ANATOMY OF A GREAT PARTNERSHIP
Performance Solutions from HealthTrust offer providers operational improvements, financial recovery, service line excellence & health system growth. Rick Phillips & Dr. Shah agree that the successful partnership with Beacon Health System can be attributed to critical elements, such as:
- Deeply engaged executive leaders committed to action & accountability
- Willingness to innovate, change & not defend the status quo
- Openness to addressing operational realities & root cause issues
- Stakeholder buy-in enabling accelerated decision-making & support for longer-term adoption
- Continuous growth mindset; ability to adopt systemic solutions rather than isolated fixes
- Viewing the HealthTrust team as partners committed to long-term growth & support
Shared mission & values
“Beacon’s mission became our mission,” says Rick Phillips, Vice President of Performance Solutions for HealthTrust. “They were already anchored by a strong foundation and framework that we could leverage, cultivate and scale.”
Unlike an outside firm starting from scratch, HealthTrust approached Beacon with an operator’s mindset and as a partner. The long-standing relationship also meant HealthTrust had an established understanding of the health system. This accelerated speed to value, Phillips shares, because “HealthTrust was able to build on existing knowledge and move quickly into focused conversations with Beacon’s C-suite and its operational and clinical leaders to align on priorities and what mattered most.”
A hallmark of the recent Performance Solutions work was the ongoing involvement of Beacon’s leadership team. “They have cultivated an environment that encourages innovation and sustainable improvement,” explains HealthTrust Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer Aashish Shah, M.D., J.D., who has oversight of the organization’s Performance Solutions team.
Dr. Shah and Phillips agree that support from Beacon’s executive team made a difference not only in obtaining buy-in from colleagues throughout the organization but also when it came time to implement solutions. “As a partner willing to embrace deep operational collaboration, our team could focus on discovering the root cause of issues rather than just treating the symptoms,” Phillips adds.
Performance Solutions identified pharmacy services, lab and medical device contracting as three high-impact areas positioned to generate accelerated enterprisewide improvements and cost savings. From there, HealthTrust built a roadmap with practical next steps and achievable targets.
A different approach
“HealthTrust worked alongside us to align all sites toward a shared focus and clear direction,” says Jeanne Anderson, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, Beacon’s Vice President of Pharmacy Services.
A “listen first” approach is what Anderson says stood out the most about the Performance Solutions team. “They spent time on site, meeting with Beacon staff throughout the organization. They took the time to really understand how we actually operate before offering solutions. The recommendations from HealthTrust were tailored to us, grounded in what they learned from our team about our operations.” Lasting value, she says, has come from dashboards that HealthTrust created to enable systemwide visibility.
David Bailey, President of Beacon Health’s Community Hospital of Bremen, echoes Anderson’s experience with the Performance Solutions team and its partnership approach to evaluating operations and stewardship throughout the health system’s labs.
“HealthTrust identified opportunities and recommended changes to increase both effectiveness and efficiency. They also uncovered more than $2 million we could generate in revenue. We were surprised there was that much opportunity to capitalize on,” he adds.
And then there were 11
As the health system increased its acute care footprint in southwest Michigan through an acquisition in 2025, alignment among the organization’s legacy and new colleague populations became essential. In support of their common goals and shared direction, it adopted a “One Beacon” campaign to create enterprise-wide support for the health system whose reach now includes 11 hospitals.
“The importance of a strong culture has served us well in capitalizing on new opportunities, such as expansion, while proactively addressing challenges,” shares Costello. “Beacon operates as one organization. We avoid silos and support each other equally—regardless of where we are located or what services we provide,” he adds.
Paving a resilient path forward
In the midst of his team’s most recent work with HealthTrust Performance Solutions, Beacon’s Vice President of Supply Chain Operations Greg Hostettler has been influential in the transformation across Beacon’s service lines.
Hostettler describes HealthTrust as a true collaborative partner, assisting providers in mitigating risk, future-proofing their supply chains and aligning clinical, financial and operations teams to drive cohesive decision-making.
When asked what makes HealthTrust different than performance improvement companies or consultants they have engaged in the past, Costello says, “The Performance Solutions team offers Beacon bandwidth, expertise, market intelligence and implementation support—not just recommendations. And while immediate impact matters, it’s sustained results that are the real differentiator.”
Stay tuned for future updates as the Beacon/HealthTrust partnership moves forward. Phillips says the teams are discussing additional opportunities to align Beacon’s clinical, operational and financial goals. “As long as Beacon keeps pushing forward, we’ll be alongside them—unlocking value and strengthening performance at every step,” adds Dr. Shah.
“We look forward to a more resilient future by leveraging the success of the Performance Solutions’ initiatives that support further integration & scale as we broaden our reach.”
Jeff Costello
Balancing quick wins & lasting value
Beacon’s expansive strategic partnership with HealthTrust Performance Solutions resulted in a 10:1 ROI across pharmacy, lab & medical device management.
Pharmacy services: 5% savings
- Systemwide increases in oncology drug spend revealed a need for greater visibility into expense drivers & more strategic formulary management.
- HealthTrust analyzed spend patterns across oncology programs & infusion services, tying expenses back to service lines & aligning drug utilization with revenue-producing programs.
- HealthTrust clinical experts reviewed pharmacy spend & current mapping, recommending a standardized approach to bring consistency to categorization across the system, & advocating for & guiding development of a supply expense & revenue dashboard still used today for visibility & tracking.
- Immediate impact came from timely GPO contract changes & optimization work, including Beacon’s approach to biosimilars & infusion sites of care to better maximize 340B program opportunities.
Lab stewardship: 17% savings
- HealthTrust evaluated whether Beacon should invest in a centralized core lab to reduce send-out testing & create efficiencies. Analysis determined that a new core lab would not yield sufficient ROI.
- Standardized cost-effective testing protocols were introduced systemwide to ensure staff was performing the right tests at the right site of care at the right time.
- HealthTrust mapped test volume by location & developed an insourcing strategy to reduce reliance on third-party reference labs.
- Specialty tests within certain areas were consolidated based on a location’s capabilities, bandwidth & equipment.
Medical device contracting:
- 13% savings, CRM & coronary:
- 8% savings, spine hardware
Beacon’s spending on high-cost medical device categories—CRM, coronary & spine—was high & pricing varied. This signaled the need for stronger contracting strategies, standardization & utilization alignment.
HealthTrust conducted contract reviews & helped Beacon understand how volume & utilization patterns could be leveraged to secure better pricing.
Explore how expanding your partnership with HealthTrust Performance Solutions can benefit your organization by reaching out to your HealthTrust Account Manager or by emailing performancesolutions@healthtrustpg.com
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