How every lost dollar starts in medical credentialing & enrollment

Over the past year, health systems have faced a wave of financial and operational strain — and many expect even more turbulence ahead. 

Policy shifts, reimbursement pressure, and rising labor costs are forcing leaders to make difficult trade-offs. But the most effective organizations aren’t just reacting to these challenges. They’re building operational resilience to withstand them.

That starts behind the scenes — in the processes, systems, and workflows that support every care program and provider. While it’s tempting to cut at the front lines, many health systems are finding real savings in the often-overlooked engine of provider operations.

We’ve seen three clear patterns from the most adaptive organizations. Here’s what they’re doing differently and how they’re building systems that can absorb the next operational shock.

1. They cut delay, not care

When margins are thin, every week a provider sits idle costs money. But delays in licensing, credentialing, and enrollment are still widespread. Many systems rely on spreadsheets, email threads, and legacy portals to get providers live — which leads to handoffs, rework, and bottlenecks.

Instead of accepting the delay, leading orgs are compressing onboarding timelines by centralizing provider ops and automating repeatable steps. The result: faster time to care, reduced staffing strain, and thousands in monthly revenue preserved.

Credentialing and enrollment delays cost hospitals more than $10,000 per provider, per month in deferred revenue. (Source: MGMA)

2. They consolidate systems, not services

As cost pressures mount, it’s tempting to cut clinical programs. But some of the most costly overhead is hiding in duplicative systems — not frontline care. Licensing in one tool, credentialing in another, monitoring in a spreadsheet, compliance in a siloed team. The sprawl is costly and unsustainable.

Top-performing health systems are choosing consolidation. They're bringing fragmented workflows into a single platform or operational layer — reducing the need for manual oversight and freeing up bandwidth to focus on what matters most: care delivery.

Many health systems use four or more disconnected systems to manage provider operations — increasing duplication, handoffs, and overhead. (Source: Kaufman Hall)

3. They automate renewal risk

One of the most under-appreciated operational risks is also one of the most preventable: missed license renewals. Manual tracking leaves teams vulnerable to lapsed credentials, audit exposure, and reactive fire drills that disrupt clinical operations.

Healthcare orgs that have invested in automated alerts, centralized dashboards, and structured renewal processes are seeing real results. They’re reducing staff burnout, improving compliance confidence, and avoiding costly delays tied to last-minute catch-up work.

Administrative complexity contributes to 25% of total U.S. healthcare spending — with compliance management among the most resource-intensive areas. (Source: JAMA)

The pressure on health systems isn’t easing anytime soon

But some of the most important gains don’t come from cutting care — they come from cutting friction. By modernizing the systems that power provider operations, health organizations are unlocking margin, improving access, and reducing the burden on staff.

Medallion is built to help you do exactly that.

Explore how we support healthcare organizations in reducing operational overhead — so you can protect what matters most.

Download the full guide: Built to Withstand the Shift
Learn more at medallion.co