Driving Performance and Innovation in Healthcare Finance with Jason Hinkle

Summary

Driving Performance and Innovation in Healthcare Finance with Jason Hinkle

Becker's Healthcare Podcast | March 30, 2026
Guest: Jason Hinkle, CFO, Deaconess Illinois (Deaconess Health System)
Host: Madeline (Becker’s Healthcare)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores how healthcare financial leaders can drive organizational performance, inspire innovation, and collaborate across departments amid shrinking margins and ongoing industry challenges. Jason Hinkle, recently appointed CFO for Deaconess Illinois, draws from his unique background—ranging from Big Four accounting to the rental car sector—to share actionable insights on leadership, incentivization, future technologies (including AI), and the importance of aligning strategies across clinical, operational, and financial teams.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jason Hinkle’s Path to Healthcare Leadership (00:46–02:06)

• Unconventional Career Journey:
  • Started in accounting (EY, Atlanta), then moved to the rental car industry for four years before returning to healthcare.
  • Noted the deep sense of purpose in healthcare work.
  • Previous roles include Christ Medical Center (Advocate, Chicago) and Loyola Medicine (Trinity Health).
  • Now CFO of Deaconess Illinois, overseeing four hospitals and associated clinics, including two critical access hospitals.
• Quote:
  “As folks know who work in healthcare, really having a purpose and meaning behind the work that we do every day.” — Jason Hinkle (00:54)

2. Strategic Priorities Amid Margin Pressure (02:26–03:53)

• Efficiency and Growth:
  • Margins are “razor thin” and expected to tighten.
  • Aggressively seeking efficiencies, cost reductions, and growth opportunities.
  • Empowers frontline leaders: “I always tell our leaders, you’re the CEO of your area.”
  • Established a system-wide tracker for operational improvement initiatives, integrated into the budget cycle.
• Quote:
  “Where can we find opportunities to improve our efficiency, reduce costs, drive growth... It comes back to really challenging our frontline leaders.” — Jason Hinkle (02:26)

3. Cross-Sector Lessons & Incentivizing Performance (03:53–05:44)

• Bringing Rental Industry Lessons:
  • At Enterprise (rental car company), employee compensation linked directly to the profitability of their branch.
  • Applied similar incentive models at Deaconess, tying frontline leaders’ compensation to departmental performance.
• Empowerment and Accountability:
  • Personal incentive increases engagement and performance.
  • Quote:
    “Deaconess is the first system I’ve been part of that really has incorporated some of that into our own model... So it really gives our frontline leaders a skin in the game.” — Jason Hinkle (04:25)

4. Building Collaborative Partnerships Between Finance and Operations (05:44–07:49)

• Effective Budgeting:
  • Advocates participatory, departmentalized budgeting: engaging operational and clinical leaders in budget creation and accountability.
  • Draws on Jack Welch's philosophy: “A budget is never going to be useful if your leaders don’t actually aren’t part of that process and don’t buy into the budget from the front end.”
• Three-Pronged Approach for Leader Enablement:
  1. Provide the right tools to frontline leaders.
  2. Train leaders to use these tools.
  3. Hold leaders accountable for performance and goals.
• Quote:
  “I think so often there’s just a disconnect between finance teams and clinical teams. There’s a three-pronged approach... Provide the right tools, train them... and then hold leaders accountable to the goals that we’ve set.” — Jason Hinkle (07:02)

5. Expanding the CFO Role: From Finance to Enterprise Strategy (07:52–09:19)

• Beyond Traditional Finance:
  • CFOs increasingly have a seat at the table for strategic decisions: evaluating service lines, community needs, and technology investments.
  • Stress on not just approving investment pro formas but tracking if anticipated results are achieved, and pivoting as needed.
• Quote:
  “In addition to... is there a community need... ultimately, we have to make sure that our health system is around for years to come... having a seat at that table on those discussions.” — Jason Hinkle (08:09)

6. Future-Proofing: Technology, Prevention, and Thinking Beyond (09:19–11:16)

• Technological Transformation:
  • Labor is the largest challenge, and the industry must consider not just AI but “what technology doesn’t exist today” that could revolutionize care (e.g., robotics like Tesla’s Optimus).
  • Proactive thinking is required—what sounds “sci-fi” today could be reality soon.
  • Emphasis on preventative services and population health, including “non-traditional” health services that may not be covered by insurance (e.g., functional health testing).
• Quote:
  “Are we thinking about what technology even beyond AI is coming? Is there a world where something like Optimus from Tesla is working alongside our clinical teams?” — Jason Hinkle (09:36)
  • On prevention:
    “Also from a preventative healthcare standpoint, how can we keep folks from even ending up in our hospital?” — Jason Hinkle (10:38)

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Notable Quotes

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:54 | Jason Hinkle | “As folks know who work in healthcare, really having a purpose and meaning behind the work that we do every day.” | | 02:26 | Jason Hinkle | “Where can we find opportunities to improve our efficiency, reduce costs, drive growth... It comes back to really challenging our frontline leaders.” | | 04:25 | Jason Hinkle | “Deaconess is the first system I’ve been part of that really has incorporated some of that into our own model... So it really gives our frontline leaders a skin in the game.” | | 07:02 | Jason Hinkle | “There’s a three-pronged approach... Provide the right tools, train them... and then hold leaders accountable to the goals that we’ve set.” | | 08:09 | Jason Hinkle | “We have to make sure that our health system is around for years to come... having a seat at that table on those discussions.” | | 09:36 | Jason Hinkle | “Are we thinking about what technology even beyond AI is coming? Is there a world where something like Optimus from Tesla is working alongside our clinical teams?” | | 10:38 | Jason Hinkle | “How can we keep folks from even ending up in our hospital?” |

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Memorable Moments & Takeaways

• Skin in the Game: Implementing frontline leader incentive packages based on departmental performance (04:25).
• Emphasis on Departmental Ownership: “You’re the CEO of your area.” (02:26)
• Visionary Thinking: Considering robotics and “sci-fi” tech as real possibilities for healthcare’s near future (09:36).
• Collaborative Budgeting: Making budget accountability and variance analysis a team sport, not just a finance directive (05:56–07:49).

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:46–02:06: Jason’s background and role at Deaconess Illinois
• 02:26–03:53: Strategy for efficiency, frontline empowerment, and operations improvement
• 03:53–05:44: Cross-industry lessons and leadership incentivization
• 05:44–07:49: Collaborating with clinical and operational teams; tools and accountability
• 07:52–09:19: CFO as enterprise strategist; investment decisions & tracking outcomes
• 09:19–11:16: Future trends—AI, robotics, prevention, and creating organizational “optionality”

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In Summary

Jason Hinkle underscores the importance of engaging frontline leaders, incentivizing performance, collaborative budgeting, and preparing for bold future scenarios in healthcare (from advanced AI to robotics and preventative health services). His experience across industries fuels his belief in ownership, accountability, and the willingness to envision a very different healthcare environment just a few years down the road.

This episode is a must-listen for healthcare leaders seeking practical strategies, cross-sector inspiration, and a forward-thinking approach to navigating financial and operational challenges.

Transcript

[MedMetrics Announcer]

When it comes to today's rcm, we know the challenges, complexity of claims, talent shortages, low funding and lagging tech. That's why we built MedMetrics. We have the expertise and advanced tech to give you that edge on your revenue cycle. We're a partner who will relentlessly raise your yield. A partner who's on your side because they've been operator side who knows your battles and will make sure you win from start to finish, end to end. MedMetrics. Be exceptional.

[Madeline]

This is Madeline with the Becker CFO and revenue cycle Podcast. And I'm excited to be joined today by Jason Hinkle, CFO of Deaconess Illinois, a member of Deaconess Health System. Jason, thanks for joining me.

[Jason Hinkle]

Madeline, thanks for having me. I'm looking forward to our conversation today. Me too.

[Madeline]

So, Jason, before we start for our listeners, do you mind just sharing a little bit about your background in healthcare and and more on Deaconess Illinois?

[Jason Hinkle]

Absolutely. So I had a little bit more of an unconventional entry into the healthcare space. So I started my career after finishing my Master's of accounting at the University of Tennessee, working in EY at EY in Atlanta, mainly focused on healthcare clients and actually went and worked in the rental car industry afterwards for about four years and really felt a calling to come back to the healthcare space. And as folks know who work in healthcare, really having a purpose and meaning behind the work that we do every day. So had the opportunity to jump back into the healthcare space on the provider side, working at Christ Medical center with Advocate in Chicago, then took the opportunity to become a Regional Director of Finance with Loyola Medicine, which is part of Trinity Health, also in Chicago. And then in October of this last year had the incredible opportunity to come join Deaconess Illinois, located in Marion, Illinois, where we operate four hospitals in the Illinois market, two of which are critical access hospitals. So I currently steer the financial operations for those four hospitals as well as our clinic operations in the market.

[Madeline]

What a cool background. I appreciate you sharing that. Thanks so much, Jason. So I would like to dive right in and as you said, you know, you've been in the industry for a few years now and it is an ever changing one. So could you share maybe some strategic priorities that you think, you know, are demanding your most attention right now while we're seeing so many shifts?

[Jason Hinkle]

Yeah, I think, you know, everyone in health care understands, you know, the margins that we operate at are already razor thin and the headwinds that we are currently seeing and certainly the ones that we're looking at ahead of us in the years to come are just only tightening that margin. So I think where a lot of, you know, my team's focus and my focus is right now is on identifying every opportunity we can across the organization, across every level, for where can we find opportunities to improve our efficiency, reduce costs, drive growth in the markets that we're in. And I think a lot of that comes back to really challenging our frontline leaders to help us in identifying ways we can improve margins. I mean, I always tell our leaders, you're the CEO of your area, right? So if you're over pharmacy, you're the CEO of pharmacy. So you're going to see things that I may not see on a spreadsheet or I may not, may not hear about in one of our meetings. And so really giving those leaders the opportunity to bring those ideas forward. And so that's something that we've really put a huge emphasis on and specifically in the last several months of challenging those leaders to identify those initiatives and put them on a system wide tracker that we've created in order to really, it's their methodology for showing the work that they're already doing to improve operations and we really build that into our budget cycle.

[Madeline]

I have to ask you, I'm so curious because at the beginning of the podcast you said you kind of dabbled in different industries. You were in the rental car industry for a little bit and you're just now talking just about the importance of, of leadership and owning, you know, the area that you oversee. How did, how did that experience that you had kind of shape how you work today as a cfo? Because I would say, you know, rental car industries, industries like that, they're, they're, you know, so customer serving, they're always, you know, thinking about the customer, other people. So how did that kind of shape your role now?

[Jason Hinkle]

I think it's exactly that. I think it's, you know, at Enterprise, I have a lot of great things to say about that company. And one of them is impeccable focus on customer service. And we preach the same thing. But another, another piece of that is at Enterprise, everyone's compensation from a branch manager onward is it's a fixed, a fixed rate and everything from then on is based on a percentage of your bottom line. So everyone across the organization is incentivized to really hone in on the, how their operations running because it directly impacts their own compensation. And I will say Deaconess is the first system I've been a part of that really has incorporated some of that into our own model this last year was the first year of the implementation where part of our frontline leaders compensation plan is based off of their performance of their respective areas to budget. So it really gives our frontline leaders a skin in the game of how if your departments win, if you're operating at a really great level, you feel that personally, I think that's something enterprise really did great. And I think Deaconess is doing the exact same thing of really giving people personal incentive beyond just their own role and expectations around their role to perform at a high level.

[Madeline]

Yeah. And in your role as a finance leader now, how do you make sure to partner with different areas like clinical and operational colleagues to kind of drive, you know, sustainable performance that we need to see?

[Jason Hinkle]

Yeah, I think, you know, Jack Welch talks in one of his books and it's called Winning. And one of the things he talks about is, is that a budget is never going to be useful if you're, if your leaders don't actually aren't part of that process and don't buy into the budget from the front end. And I'm a believer of that. And I've worked places where we don't even have a departmentalized budget. It's just very much a high level budget. And so when things go off the rails, it's where, where are we? Where's the issue at? And so I think one, having those departmentalized budgets, but also making those leaders part of that process. And I'm not saying that they're, you know, determining their supply run rate and layering in all those kind of very intricate details of a budget, but having those leaders part of that process, able to speak to what was included in their budget. And they're signing off alongside our finance team saying this is a realistic yet and an aggressive but achievable budget. And they understand what was kind of included in that budget. And as we go through the fiscal year, they're part of that process of helping to explain those variances to budget and coming up with their action plans for if we kind of do go off the rails, helping to be part of those, creating those initiatives to get us back on track. And so I think that's really where that partnership between the finance. I think so often there's just a disconnect between the finance teams and the clinical teams. And I would say there's a three pronged approach. Right. Like we have to provide the right tools to those frontline leaders. We then have to train them on how to use those tools. And then that third step, which I think so often falls between the gaps is we have to hold the. Hold leaders accountable to the goals that we've set. Assuming that we give. That gave them the right tools and. And train them on how to use them to be effective in their roles.

[Madeline]

Yeah. Cause at the end of the day, it's important for you all to lean on each other to ensure a strong organization. You guys need each other.

[Jason Hinkle]

Absolutely. One cannot exist without the other. Definitely.

[Madeline]

Amazing. And that kind of piggybacks into my next question. So when thinking about big decisions in healthcare, what would you say major decisions today require? CFOs kind of to think beyond that traditional financial management and maybe act more as like a enterprise strategist, if you will.

[Jason Hinkle]

Yeah, I think we. We definitely have taken more of a role in the, you know, past several years at being at those tables of those strategic decisions of, you know, what service lines do we want to, you know, delve into, you know, what. What is our. What do our communities need? But also, you know, in addition to is there a community need there and are we providing that? Ultimately we have to make sure that our health system is around for years to come to continue to provide the excellent care that we do to our. So I think having a seat at that table on those discussions. Same thing goes with capital. Everyone wants the latest and greatest technology, but making sure that when we put it down on paper is the return there, that, yes, we're providing the care that our patients need, but we're also going to generate the volume and growth that we anticipate. And then the second piece of that is actually following up on that and just saying, hey, great, we have a pro forma. But then after implementation, are we realizing what we thought we would from this, or do we need to kind of take another look at our game plan or where did we miss and what can we learn from that?

[Madeline]

Some great insight there. I don't want to look to the future now too, so maybe even three to five years out. What would you say, what capability or transformation would you will kind of separate, Excuse me, these thriving organizations from maybe ones that are struggling right now?

[Jason Hinkle]

Yeah, I think a lot of it is like thinking outside the box. And some of these things that I may talk about may sound crazy, but I think if we go back five or 10 years ago from today, healthcare looks very different than what it did then. And so I think as anyone in healthcare knows, labor is our largest expense. It's an area that almost every healthcare system is struggling with of like, how do we provide the care that we need with the right Folks in place. And so are we thinking about what technology even beyond AI is coming? And I always, you know, this, this may sound sci fi to some people, but I think about like, is there a world where something like Optimus from Tesla is working alongside our clinical teams like that? That to me is a very real possibility of something to come in the future. And I think those healthcare systems that are thinking that way of, yeah, that sounds crazy to think about right now, but I think that's AI five years ago sounded crazy to anybody. And we're, you know, at every angle trying to implement that into our daily, daily operations. And so I think one, that piece of what technology doesn't exist today that we need to think about. Also from a preventative health care standpoint, you know, how can we keep folks from even ending up in our hospital? What services can we provide? I think there's a lot of things on the market like function, health that have popped up of hey, your insurance isn't going to cover these tests but you know, we can offer this service to give you a heads up of some things you may need to be aware of about your own health that you can go ahead and get ahead of. And so I think, how does healthcare, how do healthcare systems play a similar role in the communities they serve?

[Madeline]

No, it's also true there and honestly, very excited to see what comes down the line in the next few years. We've already seen so much and AI is so prominent right now, so, so really appreciate it. Well Jason, it has been such a pleasure getting to chat with you and I'm excited to connect again sometime down the line. So thank you so much for sharing your thoughts today.

[Jason Hinkle]

Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time, Madeline. I enjoyed our conversation.

[Madeline]

Thank you.

[MedMetrics Announcer]

When it comes to today's rcm, we know the challenges, complexity of claims, talent shortages, low funding and lagging tech. That's why we built MedMetrics. We have the expertise and advanced tech to give you that edge on your revenue cycle. We're a partner who will relentlessly raise your yield. A partner who's on your side because they've been operator side who knows your battles and will make sure you win from start to finish, end to end. Medmetrics be exceptional.