2026 Care Delivery Trends: Proving Outcomes and Driving ROI
At Unite Us’ first Customer Town Hall of 2026, we discussed the strategies, trends, policies, and innovations redefining how care is delivered this year—and beyond.
Health care has entered a new era. Federal investment is reshaping rural health infrastructure. Value-based and whole-person care models are accelerating and expanding. And across sectors, leaders are asking a more disciplined question:
Can we prove that community interventions are driving measurable health outcomes and sustainable cost reductions?
In 2026, that proof is no longer optional. At Unite Us, we believe this is the defining moment for community care coordination: when intention must translate into strategic action, and collaboration must translate into data-backed results.
Last week, we hosted our first Customer Town Hall of 2026, providing customers with critical insights into advancements in community care coordination, measurable outcomes, and impactful partnerships.
Take a look behind the curtain at what we discussed:
Clarity, Focus, and Cross-Sector Collaboration
The event emphasized two key themes for strategic clarity and ongoing collaboration:
- Clarity Equals Measurable Outcomes: Operational and strategic alignment better serves individuals and communities.
- Collaboration Remains Central to Success: Partner and network collaboration must be active, engaging, and at the heart of what we do.
“Our goal is really clarity: what it means for you to have operational and strategic clarity in our partnership, and most importantly, how it translates into measurable outcomes.”
– Natalie Hammond Paul, AVP, Customer Success
Rural Health, Community Engagement, and Self-Sufficiency
Nothing exhibits the importance of these themes right now than the current demands of the market. Unite Us CEO and Co-Founder Taylor Justice highlighted new opportunities this year around rural health transformation and Medicaid Community Engagement (CE) requirements, while underscoring our sustained commitment on proving impact regardless of zip code:
- Transforming Rural Health: With $50B in federal funding reshaping opportunities for rural health, Taylor explained the vision behind the mandate to strengthen infrastructure and rethink service delivery.
- Modernizing CE Infrastructure: As work requirements take shape, states are navigating the intersection of policy, funding, and drivers of health, requiring systems that connect eligibility to measurable pathways toward employment and stability.
“For Unite Us, when we look at these opportunities, we really see an area that is both designed for our ability to support these states and communities, execute on those missions, but also for us to rethink our own delivery for communities.”
– Taylor Justice, CEO and Co-Founder, Unite Us
- Proving Impact with Data: Our true north is measurable change. That means proving individuals not only received assistance, but that those interventions move them toward sustainable self-sufficiency. As new funding models take shape in 2026, accountability and outcomes remain at the center of our work.
“Our true north has always been, can I prove that the individual that’s seeking assistance actually received that assistance? And more so, how do I make sure that not only do they receive that initial need, but is it putting them on a path of self-sufficiency?”
– Taylor Justice, CEO and Co-Founder, Unite Us
Impact in Action: A Success Story with CVS Specialty and Team PHenomenal Hope
We were proud to welcome our partners, CVS Specialty and Team PHenomenal Hope, to the session to highlight their real-world success story that demonstrates how they are meeting the unique needs of people living with chronic conditions through community-based Care Coordination and tailored interventions.
Team PHenomenal Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting people living with pulmonary hypertension, partners with CVS Speciality to connect patients with unmet non-medical needs, through the Meaghan Michelle Hicks Fund for Unmet Needs. Together they are delivering holistic support for patients, using Unite Us to streamline the referral process, ensure prescreened eligibility and drive rapid connections to care.
Marcie Hoffmann, Senior Manager at CVS Specialty, and Tonya Kidd, Program Manager for Team PHenomenal Hope both shared how the collaboration has exponentially extended support for patients and their families living with pulmonary hypertension and other chronic conditions.
“When we talk about the collaboration and the benefits of streamlining the process for patients to receive these funds, the one thing that we know is any referral that comes from Unite Us is already prescreened, and we know that they have that diagnosis. So that’s been a great way on the platform to know that we have patients in need who have already been screened.”
– Tonya Kidd, Program Manager, Team PHenomenal Hope
“Many of these conditions don’t have a cure…so in addition to the treatments available, our patients face just so many challenges while managing their condition. Our collaboration with Unite Us has been so beneficial in helping patients find available resources when they need them most.”
– Marcie Hoffmann, Senior Manager, CVS Speciality
Designing for Outcomes, Not Volume
Positive impact is not something you wish for. It is something you design for.
The next evolution of care delivery isn’t about adding more activity, explained Unite Us President Sean Burke, it’s about making it easier for teams to translate that activity into measurable results.
He distilled it into three simple strategic elements driving Unite Us this year. The first two are improving product adoption and usability—”this is about how we can make it easy for you and your teams to act and make sure you can serve those who need that care”—and being very intentional in driving accountable, scalable community networks.
This shift requires targeted focus on product development and network design, explained Megan Ducoff, SVP of Operations, and Natalie Hammond-Paul, VP of Customer Success. They highlighted two key focus areas:
- Enhanced Tools for Partners: Tailored platform logic, guided workflows, and reporting capabilities will enhance user experiences. New self-service onboarding will streamline community organization network participation, reinforcing collaboration across partners.
- Strategic Network Growth: Aligning partners around data-driven, quality-focused impact is the next evolution of outcomes-based care coordination.
The third element? Helping communities demonstrate a return on investment through measurable outcomes.
Possibly, the most important shift taking place is the need to standardize outcomes measurement. Addressing drivers of health is no longer framed as an upstream investment with theoretical returns. Community-based interventions must now demonstrate financial and clinical impact at scale.
Halima Montecalvo, VP of Research & Evaluation at Unite Us, discussed the importance of proactively identifying program goals and prioritizing outcomes from the start.
Value of Outcomes Measurement: Addressing drivers of health leads to measurable improvements in health outcomes and reductions in healthcare costs.
Unite Us has a long history of partnering with communities to prove impact. For example, our evaluation with Ballad Health recorded an 8.5% reduction in ED visits post-intervention, saving more than $800,000. Similarly, the North Carolina Healthy Opportunities Pilots (HOP) showcased a significant cost reduction of approximately $85 per member per month (PMPM).
“When someone gets their food, housing, and transportation needs met, they’re better able to care for themselves, for their families, leading to fewer ED visits and lower total costs.”
– Halima Montecalvo, VP, Research & Evaluation, Unite Us
Moving Forward, Together
In 2026 and beyond, health and community-based care leaders will be called to measure impact across:
- Improving clinical and non-clinical health outcomes
- Reducing avoidable utilization
- Demonstrating a clear financial ROI
- Streamlining workflows across historically siloed sectors
The infrastructure to meet the moment must connect data, accountability, and execution.
