The American healthcare system is at an inflection point. Care costs and patients' out-of-pocket expenses are rising, reimbursements are declining, and a presidential election is on the horizon. What the future of healthcare will look like, from a regulatory standpoint, is deeply uncertain.

While healthcare leaders may have substantive disagreements about the best ways to meet these challenges, few, if any, would advocate for the status quo. Big change is coming to healthcare — that much is certain. The question is which stakeholders are going to be the primary drivers of that change: providers, disrupters, regulators, or some amalgamation of these entities?

During a Becker's advisory call in October, several healthcare executives discussed the need for price transparency in healthcare, the lessons traditional provider organizations can learn from retail healthcare and what the future of healthcare delivery could look like.