2026 RCM Benchmark Survey Report: How RCM leaders are navigating denials, Medicaid uncertainty and the automation gap
Revenue cycle leaders closed out last year with hard-won progress. Now a new set of pressures is testing whether that progress holds. The 2026 RCM Benchmark Survey Report, developed by Savista and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), captures how 102 hospital and health system leaders are responding to rising denials, Medicaid uncertainty and a widening automation gap.
Download the report to see how your organization's priorities and performance compare to your peers.
What the data reveals
The data exposes an industry under pressure on multiple fronts:
- Momentum meets uncertainty: 50% of organizations improved financial performance last year, but 61% say their RCM systems and processes will need to change in the next year just to hold steady.
- Regulatory pressure is mounting: Most respondents expect Medicaid cuts to have a significant to large impact on net patient services revenue this year.
- Audits are intensifying: Nearly 4 in 5 agree post-payment audits and takebacks are a growing challenge, with more than half reporting audits on payments made over 18 months ago.
- Denials remain the top challenge: Rising denials and appeals volume rank as the single greatest RCM challenge among respondents.
- Automation confidence dropped sharply: Far fewer organizations describe their RCM operations as highly automated compared to the prior year — a significant decline that signals a widening gap between expectation and execution.
Get the full report
Budget cycles are approaching. Denial volumes are climbing. Regulatory changes are already reshaping revenue projections. This report gives revenue cycle leaders a benchmark for where their organization stands against peers navigating the same pressures, where industry priorities are shifting for the year ahead, and strategies to reduce denials, recover revenue and strengthen performance.
See the complete data set and analysis from the latest RCM Benchmark Survey Report.
