At the 26th Big Island Annual Healthcare Symposium, held August 1–3, 2025, healthcare innovators gathered under the theme “Leveraging Innovation to Advance the Quintuple Aim.” Leaders from employers, health plans, provider groups, and quality improvement organizations came together to explore how collaboration can transform primary care—and make it more sustainable, equitable, and effective.
One highlight of the event was the panel “Building the Future of Primary Care: A Collaborative Approach,” featuring experts from Purchaser Business Group on Health (PBGH), Health Net of California, Boeing, and Altais, including Dr. Nishant Anand, CEO of Altais.
Moving Beyond Fee-for-Service
Dr. Anand emphasized that the fee-for-service model is increasingly unsustainable for primary care practices. Rising staffing costs, more complex patient needs, and stagnant reimbursement rates make it difficult for physicians to deliver the care their patients deserve.
“Ten-minute visits are turning into forty-minute visits,” Dr. Anand noted. “Fee-for-service simply isn’t built to support that kind of care.”
Redefining Primary Care Through Collaboration
Dr. Anand highlighted how Altais, in partnership with health plans and employer groups, is reimagining care through advanced primary care models that integrate:
- Upfront investments for practice transformation, including technical support, coaching, and collaborative learning networks.
- A unified data platform to provide practices with a single, aggregated view of their patient population and actionable insights for closing care gaps.
- Clear, high-value metrics focused on outcomes that truly matter—like diabetes control, hypertension management, immunizations, and cancer screenings.
- Performance-based incentives and predictable payments that give practices financial stability and room to reinvest in staff and patient care.
Restoring Joy in Medicine
Dr. Anand also shared how tools like AI-powered ambient documentation are reducing administrative burden and giving physicians time back.
“In our network, 90% of physicians using ambient AI documentation tools are finishing their charts within an hour of clinic closing,” he said. “That’s the kind of transformation that restores joy to the practice of medicine.”
Jessica Haugen, DO, a primary care physician at Family Care Specialists, an Altais Medical Group practice in eastern Los Angeles County, offered a firsthand look at how innovation is helping restore joy in medicine.
“Since I started using Abridge for my visit notes, I no longer need to type during the exam or spend time between visits trying to recall and transcribe details that could be missed if I charted later,” said Dr. Haugen. “My conversations with patients have become more meaningful, and I feel significantly less rushed throughout the day. This shift has brought back the kind of patient-centered care that drew me into Family Medicine. “
Why the Quintuple Aim Matters
The Quintuple Aim expands on the Triple Aim to focus on five critical goals: improving population health, enhancing the patient experience, reducing costs, improving provider well-being, and advancing health equity.
Dr. Anand emphasized that achieving these aims requires collaboration across the entire healthcare ecosystem—employers, health plans, policymakers, and providers—working together toward shared goals.
Looking Ahead
California has set a bold target to increase primary care spending to 15 percent by 2035, an initiative that will demand new partnerships, innovative payment models, and a renewed focus on value-based care.
For Altais, this means continuing to build systems that improve access, elevate physician satisfaction, and deliver better outcomes—proving that when practices are supported, patients and communities thrive.