Spring Street Turns 10!
When I started Spring Street Exchange (SSX) back in 2016, the world felt complex, but compared with today, it was extremely stable. There were huge issues in the healthcare industry: it was unsustainably complicated and, despite best intentions, the sector largely went on acting as though prices could continue to rise and there would always be someone to pay. Starting a strategy firm in this environment was an exciting challenge.
In 2017, as President Trump took office for his first term, we held our inaugural scenario planning roundtable and explored Republican alternatives to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA remained, but over the next few years, we saw loosening of regulations and advances of big retail and big tech companies into the health sector. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shocked the industry and disrupted our lives in ways that still seem hard to fathom as I look back. Efforts to contain the virus accelerated the move toward digitally delivered healthcare almost overnight,
Throughout this period at Spring Street, we leaned into our strengths in scenario planning and developed a disciplined approach to strategic visioning to help our clients navigate uncertainty and plan for what would come next.
As we all emerged from the pandemic in the 2020s, our collectively reimagined relationship with place and community converged with advances in technology, altering our shared understanding of what we thought possible. An industry already exhausted from weathering the pandemic, workforce shortages, and more now faced the urgency to adopt new technology along with operational and strategic transformation in an environment of heightened competition. At SSX, we continued to think forward, integrating fresh approaches into our scenario planning and strategic planning work.
In 2026, after a decade defined by sustained complexity, crisis, and constant adaptation, it is no surprise that many healthcare leaders are weary. And now we stand at the edge of another inflection point, driven by political and economic volatility, advancing technology, shifting social norms, and much more.
Just like in 2016, none of us knows what comes next. At Spring Street, after ten years, we are now stronger and better prepared. We have become more comfortable with uncertainty through scenario planning; our tools, resources, and relationships are richer and deeper; and we lean into the cognitive science that we bring to our client work to also support our own planning as a firm.
For the past ten years, the healthcare industry has heard a drumbeat that change is on the horizon, but big-scale change has yet to hit. And now, this perfect storm of forces working together, building upon the seeds planted over the last decade, is likely to finally bring about the forecasted change, and at a faster pace than we're used to. As a result, there has never been a harder time to be in this industry, and never a more meaningful one.
At Spring Street, we look forward to meeting the challenge side by side with you, working with you to make the next ten years of healthcare more sustainable and equitable, and to drive healthcare to address the needs of consumers and patients in the ways we've all envisioned.
After ten years of some of the most fulfilling work of my life, what gives me the most hope are the people I get to work alongside, both within the firm and throughout the industry -- people with values and heart, courage and grit, gratitude and grace, humor and humility.
At Spring Street Exchange, this is how we remain ready to engage. I can’t wait to hear your reflections and thoughts for the future.
With all my gratitude,
Nancy