Ahzam Afzal is the Co-Founder and CEO of Puzzle Healthcare.
The rapidly growing U.S. healthcare market presents significant opportunities for businesses to scale to meet patient needs. In 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that healthcare spending in the United States made up 17.6% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), a 7.5% increase from the previous year. A recent report also cited that in the next four years, the healthcare industry is forecasted to grow at a rate of 5.58%, faster than the growth of the national economy.
Within healthcare, more than in any other industry, successful growth requires a mix of operational efficiency, financial strategy and workforce development. Because healthcare is touching the lives of so many patients, the key isn’t just expansion—it’s scaling in a way that’s sustainable, profitable and aligned with long-term goals to ensure that benefits are impacting every part of your business, but especially those you serve.
Here are six effective strategies for scaling a healthcare business in today’s market that could help companies take advantage of upcoming opportunities.
1. Solidify Your Foundation Before Expanding
For many business leaders, once they’ve launched a sustainable business with a solid customer base, it’s tempting to expand into new markets and launch new products or service offerings before they’ve solidified their business operations. In healthcare, this could severely impact customer experience and satisfaction.
Leaders should be sure they have standardized processes so that tasks and activities are performed consistently throughout your organization, have implemented the right infrastructure and are following strong financial controls to ensure expansion and scaling does not lead to inefficiencies or even revenue leakage. Without these, growth can actually hurt the business instead of accelerating it. A scalable and strategic foundation will enable healthcare companies to adapt to changing customer needs.
2. Ensure Revenue Models Can Support Growth
Scaling successfully means understanding cash flow, pricing strategy and profitability at scale. All three elements are crucial for a healthcare organization’s financial stability, as well as its ability to operate effectively.
Managing the cash flow through efficient billing practices while working on a well-designed pricing strategy that considers costs and market dynamics is key to achieving optimal profitability. Therefore, businesses should analyze their cost structures, explore diversified revenue streams and ensure they are not relying on a model that works at a small scale but collapses when the business is scaled.
3. Lean into Technology To Scale Without Overextending The Company
An HG Insights report found that in 2024, mid-sized companies spent upwards of $72B on healthcare IT. Additionally, spending on healthcare technology increases each year due to labor shortages and the need for efficiency and growth.
Automation, AI-driven analytics, and digital tools are helping reduce and streamline administrative workloads, optimize resource allocation and improve customer or patient experiences—all without requiring proportional increases in staffing or costs. However, companies should always look at technology as a force multiplier and not a burden, ensuring that technology is relieving issues in their workflows and processes, not creating them.
4. Solve Workforce Bottlenecks Before They Become Problems
A growing business often faces hiring and retention challenges. The impact of a workforce shortage or bottleneck can be significant, especially if the business directly impacts patients, affecting the quality and accessibility of healthcare services and tools.
Whether it’s ensuring fast and effective onboarding, creating a strong company culture or using strategic outsourcing, companies need a plan to not only retain but scale their workforce in a way that makes sense for them and their goals. The plan should also ensure that service quality isn’t compromised and protect against burnout in their team.
5. When Expanding, Make Data-Driven Decisions
Not every opportunity for growth is the right one for your company. Businesses need to evaluate the demand, their market fit and their long-term sustainability overall before entering new locations or service lines.
Business leaders should approach decisions around expansion with a mindset of curiosity, critical thinking and discipline. Take an honest and objective view when considering the data. Expanding without understanding key metrics, especially when it comes to cost— customer acquisition costs, operational costs and market readiness—can lead to a business overextending itself.
6. Leverage Strategic Partnerships And Acquisitions
Scaling doesn’t always have to mean organic, linear growth. Mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships can accelerate expansion while reducing risk. A report published by PwC found healthcare was a resilient market for mergers and acquisitions in 2024, even though volume declined 9% from the previous year.
PWC predicts this year’s market is primed to see mega deals of higher volume and bigger impact, which healthcare companies looking to scale could use as a launching pad for growth. Collaborating with established players, acquiring complementary businesses or forming joint ventures can be a smarter way to scale rather than building everything from scratch.
Ultimately, successfully scaling and growing your business is not just about getting bigger—it’s about becoming more efficient, more sustainable and more resilient. Now more than ever, the healthcare market is primed and poised for exponential growth opportunities, and companies can implement these strategies now to ensure they are keeping up. The businesses that scale well are the ones that plan for growth before it happens, ensuring that every new stage strengthens their foundation rather than stretching it too thin.
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