The Path Forward to Stronger Hoosier Healthcare

Last Word

June 8, 2026 7:00 am

By: Beth Lock, CEO/Executive, Indiana Business Health Collaborative

Across Indiana, long-standing pressures are converging on our healthcare eco-system: healthcare workforce shortages that limit access, health outcomes that fall short of expectations, and costs that strain employers, government, and healthcare stakeholders alike. While efforts in recent years have made some progress, Indiana still ranks in the bottom tier nationally on too many key measures of health and wellness.

A new study from the Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health highlights a clear, evidence-based conclusion that we may be overlooking: Increasing both access to primary care providers and the use of preventative care are effective ways to improve health outcomes at their source while bending the cost curve over time.

Patients with routine access to primary care providers are more likely to receive recommended preventative care screenings, have appropriate management of chronic conditions, and avoid unnecessary emergency department visits and hospitalizations. The result is not only better health, but more efficient use of the healthcare delivery system and lower costs overall.

Indiana, however, lags many peer states in the supply of primary care providers, and these workforce and resultant access challenges are particularly acute in rural communities. At the same time, the broader health system continues to reward volume over outcomes, with limited adoption of value-based models that prioritize prevention, care coordination, and long-term health.

For Hoosier employers, these issues impact their organizations daily. Healthcare costs directly affect competitiveness, hiring, and wages. Further, when employees lack timely access to effective primary care, small health issues become larger ones. Collectively, this drives higher employer and patient spend, workplace absences, and reduced economic productivity.

The Fairbanks report includes several evidence-based options for expanding primary and preventive care services. For example, growing the primary care workforce — through expanded graduate medical education residency programs and making better use of advanced practice providers — can help reduce gaps in access to primary care.

Encouraging the adoption of value-based payment models can provide better incentives for maintaining wellness, prevention, and chronic disease management.

Meaningful progress will require a greater focus on the underlying drivers of health; prudent analysis of the present realities and future evolution of the entire heath care landscape; and stronger alignment around what is proven to work.

The Indiana Business Healthcare Collaborative was created to bring together employers and healthcare stakeholders from across Indiana to focus on how to address the important healthcare challenges facing our state. By working across traditional boundaries and keeping our concentration on what unites rather than divides us, we can develop realistic, evidence-based options that strengthen the state’s healthcare ecosystem and improve results for patients, employers, and Hoosier communities.

Source: Building Indiana Business