As with individuals and institutions, entire industries have preferred tolerances for riskâfrom low to moderate to high. The sector within which I work, healthcare, has never had much of an appetite for risk. Hospitals, health systems, clinics and other facilities are bedrocks of their communities. Financial and operational conservatism have always governed strategy.
Whatâs more, competition among healthcare providers has historically been relatively modest, discouraging even calculated risk-taking. Organizations have encroached upon each otherâs territories but the industry environment has been anything but open-market survival of the fittest.