2026 Provider data management research

Everybody wants a golden record. Almost nobody has one.

We asked 151 health system and health plan leaders. Every single one said a trusted provider record matters. Then we asked how many actually have one.

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Independent and double-blinded. Fielded by Sage Growth Partners.

What's inside

Four findings you can walk straight into a budget meeting with.

Every number in the report carries its own methodology note, so you can put it on a slide without hedging it.

Where your provider data breaks, and why throwing people at it never sticks

What it's costing you: denied claims, leaked referrals, patients sent to an address that closed in 2024

Why fixing identity first is the difference between a fix and a band-aid

A three-layer plan for getting your whole network right

The golden record gap

Only 28% of health systems and 36% of health plans have a golden record for provider data.

Health systems 28%

28 of 100 · n=101 leaders

Health plans 36%

36 of 100 · n=50 leaders

Not one leader in either group called a golden record a non-priority.

Sage Growth Partners for Verato, Q2 2026. n=151.

From the research interviews

“The reason our provider data hasn’t been fully solved is the absence of a trusted, continuously updated source of truth that flows automatically to every system that needs it.”

Chief Marketing & Customer Engagement Officer, regional health system

“When you have full trust in your provider data, then you can think about developing strategies to innovate with the information in new ways beyond compliance, such as building out preferred networks.”

AVP, Network Strategy and Value-Based Programs, regional health plan

Identity first

Skip a layer and you will be doing this again in two years.

Layer 01

Get to one identity

Everything you build sits on top of this. Get each provider down to one accurate identity, even when four systems disagree about who she is and where she works.

Layer 02

Keep the details current

One identity is not much use if the address on it is two years old. Check locations, phone numbers and specialties against trusted outside sources, continuously, so records stop rotting between manual updates.

Layer 03

Add the network picture

Now layer on what your network actually does. Referrals, affiliations, plan relationships, compliance. For systems that means leakage you can finally see. For plans it means network adequacy you can prove.

See how you stack up against 151 of your peers.

101 health system leaders. 50 health plan leaders. Every number they gave us.

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