Access has become the singular experience through which patients interpret the value, quality, and coherence of the entire system. Health systems have traditionally invested in access infrastructure—call centers, online scheduling, urgent care, referral pathways—as both the solution to access challenges and gateway into their continuum of care. However, that gateway is increasingly being rerouted. ICHRA plans and commercial navigation platforms are steering patients toward providers based on cost, convenience, and digital experience, often bypassing health systems' front doors altogether. In this series, we'll look at how health systems can respond to these market shifts by treating access not just as an entry point, but as a strategic product they use to compete in the broader, consumer-driven marketplace.

What do we mean by access?

The refrain we hear: Access is about getting the patient to the right care, at the right time, in the right place.

Unpacking that refrain: Access is the health system’s capability to seamlessly connect every patient to the right care, at the right time, through the right channel, and to sustain that connection across the care journey.

It encompasses the entire experience from pre-conversion (digital discovery, referral, or outreach) through scheduling, navigation, treatment, and ongoing engagement. Access reflects how easily and equitably people can enter, move through, and remain connected to the system whether digitally, virtually, or in person.

In terms of strategy, access is both an operational foundation and a competitive differentiator. It determines:

• How capacity is aligned with demand

• How resources are prioritized to meet clinical and consumer needs

• How the health system grows and retains its patient base in an increasingly choice-driven marketplace

Ultimately, access is not a single doorway but an entire floor plan—spanning digital front doors, referral “side doors,” and navigational pathways that make care easier, more personalized, and more continuous for those who seek care.

Introducing the “Access as a Strategic Product” Report Series:

In this series, we will showcase case studies of health systems that are leading the way in improving access across 3 strategic areas of focus:

Part I – The culture shift you need: Make access everyone’s responsibility. The organizational mindset and leadership changes needed to make access everyone’s responsibility, transforming it from an operational challenge into a shared strategic priority.

Part II – Re-envisioning the front door as a floor plan: Simplifying the consumer experience of finding and entering care.

Part III – Throughput and right care, right time: The flow of patients through the system—how capacity, navigation, and care pathways enable timely and appropriate access.