Finance can no longer afford to function separately from the rest of the organization, focused mainly on tracking actuals, says Christy Totin, CFO of Net Health, a Pittsburgh-based company that provides software solutions for healthcare providers.
Today’s CFOs need to be equally concerned with “shaping the future, forecasting risks, guiding decisions and driving strategic outcomes in line with the broader organization.”
Totin shares what that’s meant for her and her team working in medtech, why you should always “call the bottom early” and why certainty is overrated.
How have you fostered stronger partnerships between finance, clinical and operational teams to drive strategic outcomes?
This type of collaboration is the core part of how Net Health operates. One of the most effective ways we’ve fostered stronger partnerships between finance and our clinical, operational and go-to-market teams is through consistent, structured engagement. Specifically, our monthly meetings with all business units and functional partners.
These include not just finance and operations, but also sales, marketing, engineering and our business unit presidents and their leadership teams. In these sessions, we review financial performance, discuss market dynamics, address current challenges and strategize on how better data can support stronger decision-making.
This regular cadence creates a feedback loop: Finance provides accurate, trusted data, whether it’s related to revenue trends, customer retention or deal structures, and functional teams bring the context. For instance, if we’re seeing a drop in retention in a certain segment, customer success managers can speak to the “why,” which then informs both strategy and forecasting. Through this, we’ve created a business conversation grounded in shared accountability.
We’ve also built strong partnerships around deal structuring and go-to-market planning, ensuring that decisions made upstream reflect how they’ll flow through our systems and impact our financials. A key enabler in all this is having trusted finance leaders embedded in the process. For example, our vice president of revenue analytics is regularly involved in cross-functional planning, guiding how we sell, market and evaluate performance based on top-line trends.
Ultimately, collaboration stems from consistency and trust in the data. When teams know they’re working from a reliable source of truth, they’re more willing to engage, ask questions and align on strategy. It also empowers finance to shift from the role of reporting actuals to one of shaping the future, forecasting risks, guiding decisions and driving strategic outcomes in line with the broader organization.
What are your thoughts on the short-term outlook for M&A in your industry—and how do you see that playing out more broadly across other industries?
M&A activity is starting to pick up again, particularly among strategic buyers looking to strengthen their market position. Across industries, organizations are acquiring high-growth companies that align with their existing markets to better serve client needs. In healthcare specifically, M&A activity brings much-needed technological innovation and operational improvement.
Healthcare, and healthcare technology in particular, continues to be one of the most dynamic areas for M&A. The financial pressures facing hospitals, especially those tied to reimbursement challenges, are driving demand for tools that can ease clinical workflows, improve efficiency and deliver measurable return on investment. AI, predictive analytics and other intelligent platforms are becoming essential, not optional. M&A is increasing how organizations are accessing that kind of innovation at scale.
The short-term outlook for healthcare M&A points to continued momentum, and more broadly, we’re seeing a similar trend across industries. M&A is now being seen as a way to add essential innovation, accelerate transformation and create resilience in a rapidly shifting landscape.
How has your role as CFO evolved in recent years, and what skills or mindsets do you think are becoming increasingly important for finance leaders to develop today?
In recent years, the role of CFO has evolved from being primarily focused on financial reporting and oversight to becoming a more collaborative and strategic function within the organization. Today, it’s no longer about working in a silo—finance is deeply integrated across teams, helping to drive decisions that impact the entire business.
Much of our work is now rooted in consistent communication and collaboration. We regularly connect across departments, working together to share insights, align goals and deliver more comprehensive reporting. This team-based approach enables finance to play a more active role in shaping company strategy rather than simply tracking performance after the fact.
Another major shift has been the focus on building sustainable processes and ensuring the integrity of our data. Clean, accurate and accessible information is now a foundational requirement. As finance leaders, we need to prioritize not only data quality but also transparency and repeatability, ensuring that decisions can be made confidently and efficiently.
What’s one key lesson or insight you’ve learned from recent challenges in finance leadership that you believe other CFOs should consider? How can they apply this in their own organizations?
A key lesson I’ve learned recently is that as finance leaders, we need to get ahead of risks and be bold enough to make proactive decisions, even when there’s still some uncertainty. It’s often more effective to confront potential challenges early than to wait for full clarity, which can lead to delayed decisions and missed opportunities for course correction.
For example, coming out of the first quarter of last year, we identified a potential bookings risk early on. Rather than waiting for results to further decline, we acted quickly, aligning with our business partners to manage expenses and make strategic adjustments.
The best approach is to call the bottom early and work your way back up, instead of waiting for the bad news to accumulate and reacting too late. That alignment across teams can help organizations mitigate the impact and focus your energy on recovery.
For other CFOs, the takeaway is this: Don’t wait for certainty to lead. Develop the confidence to address issues early and create open lines of communication across the organization so you’re not operating in a silo. When finance is fully aligned with business leaders, you’re better positioned to anticipate risk, respond quickly and guide the organization through uncertainty with clarity and control.
