Driving capital efficiency in healthcare through data accountability

By

Sam Gumble

, Tara Cohn

, and Jonathan Greene

Last Updated Mar 26, 2026

By

Sam Gumble

, Tara Cohn

, and Jonathan Greene

This article is part of a series focused on how supporting construction teams with the best tools drives efficiency and supports the overall and unique goal of quality patient care. 

Financial efficiency for healthcare construction means producing optimized facilities that support better patient care. It creates a transition from reactive to proactive project management and creates a seamless workflow that supports strategic decision-making and prevents issues from escalating. 

Understanding and identifying what financial efficiency looks like and where it takes hold is a key way for owners to deliver quality projects that are on time and budget, as well as aligned with the continued mission of quality patient care. 

From reactive spending to proactive program oversight

Digital solutions unearth heaps of data for owners to employ. But without applicable context, owners and stakeholders are left swimming in numbers — creating as much inefficiency as having no data at all. 

Capturing data supports the project.

Standardization brings context to the data collected. It keeps costly and time-consuming errors and mistakes at bay and promotes deep-rooted efficiency. Captured, collected, and permanently accessible data helps leadership by: 

1. Encouraging proactivity with interconnected systems that enable proactive cost controls and earlier visibility into problems and risks
2. Facilitating real-time visibility enables earlier insight into risks, which leads to more accurate financial decision-making, better project outcomes, increased flexibility and adaptability
3. Enabling strategic resource planning to identify and reallocate unused contingencies elsewhere while increasing up-to-date portfolio possibilities
4. Promoting efficiency at the portfolio level adds flexibility in managing project variances without additional funding and creates control mechanisms at the project and program level.

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The public sector reporting framework

To maintain delivery confidence across a complex healthcare portfolio, reporting must be structured to provide both high-level oversight and deep-dive transparency. Here is how to align your data with the specific needs of public stakeholders:

1. Forward-looking predictability

Public health leaders cannot afford to be reactive. Reporting must shift from "what we spent" to "what we will spend."

• The insight

  Use time-phased cost forecasts to project budget health 6 to 12 months out.

• The value

  This allows leadership to proactively detect risks and identify unused contingencies early, enabling the reallocation of funds to other critical community needs without seeking new appropriations.

2. The transparent audit trail

In the public sector, every dollar is subject to scrutiny. Reports must be click-through ready.

• The insight

  Every summary report needs to be backed by a single source of truth where any line item can be traced back to its original workflow decision, markup or attachment.

• The value

  This eliminates uncertainty and communication gaps during public audits. You aren't just presenting a number; you are presenting a proven history of fiscal responsibility.

3. High-accuracy job costing

Standardizing how data is captured in the field ensures that reporting is consistent across the entire portfolio, regardless of any external stakeholders. 

• The insight

  Templatize your data and use that framework to produce side-by-side comparisons of project performance.

• The value

  This allows you to outline ideal project profiles and leverage historical trends to make future healthcare builds more cost-effective.

4. Automated alignment

Efficiency is lost when data has to be manually re-entered into different systems.

• The insight

  Sync project financial data directly with your accounting system (ERP) to provide a real-time view of the financial impact of costs.

• The value

  This reduces duplicate data entry so that the finance department and the construction team are always looking at the same set of books, preventing payment liability issues.

Using the right tools

Achieving financial efficiency in healthcare construction hinges on leveraging the right management tools.

Letting go of outdated methods — such as set-aside contingencies or expectations on GCs to oversee financial management — limits risk during construction and expedites delivery and patient use.

When leadership commits to owning and using their data they can provide tailored reporting so project outcomes align with patient care and organizational goals.

Written by

Sam Gumble

Sr. Solutions Engineer, Healthcare | Procore Technologies

Sam Gumble is an experienced engineer with a background in process management and chemical and mechanical systems. He is a key figure in driving Procore’s product and technology vision, particularly for owners. Sam has a proven track record of optimizing business processes and digitizing legacy systems. Through this leadership, he guides organizations and institutions in adopting technology solutions that improve efficiencies.

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Tara Cohn

Director | Wipfli LLP

12 articles

Tara Cohn is a director with over 15 years of experience in providing healthcare data analytics services. She helps leaders improve decision-making and achieve success with the use of data analytics. Tara’s experience includes provider practice, hospital/health system and healthcare startup/technology. She is a healthcare subject matter expert and has supported initiatives across operations, clinical care, quality, compliance, patient experience, population health, marketing, strategic planning, finance, revenue cycle and human resources. Tara’s passion is in leveraging data analytics to help organizations achieve their full potential with a focus on transparency, optimization and automation via the power of data storytelling.

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Jonathan Greene

Writer

15 articles

Jon Greene is a freelance educator, writer, and award winning theater maker. As an educational writer he has created content, lessons, and led seminars for Young Audiences of Louisiana, Hynes Charter System in New Orleans, Centre Stage School of the Arts in Singapore, 'Friends of The Museum' Docent Workshop in Singapore, The Prague Public High School System, Moleac Pharmaceuticals, and with the Grand Portage Ojibwa Tribe. His work and writing for theater has been featured in Howlround and American Theater Magazine and he is the recipient of 2 regional theater awards in his home of New Orleans. He is a BFA Graduate of Boston University and a previous Kennedy Center Fellow.

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