About Us
About
Patient Access Collaborative
Empowering Leaders, Elevating Access
Our Mission
Equipping Access Leaders to Deliver Timely, Patient-Centered Care
Our mission is to equip access leaders with tools and knowledge, evidence-based best practices, and a collaborative network that fosters learning from one another — enabling the optimization of patient access and the delivery of timely, patient-centered care.
Core Philosophy
Nothing Should Impede Patient Access
The Patient Access Collaborative is driven by a commitment to ensuring nothing impedes patient access to necessary services.
Leadership adheres to a documented ontology as per current research (Vinson et al, 2022).
Our peer learning community is anchored in the principles of psychological safety; our deliverables are grounded in operational science.
Collaboration is guided by five main pillars of focus: Capacity Management, Contact Center Management, Digital Innovation, Patient Experience, and Ambulatory Operations.
Our Commitment
Access for All. Always.
At the Patient Access Collaborative, our mission is rooted in ensuring that every patient — regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability, or language — can access timely, high-quality care. Our commitment to equity is not a matter of politics. It is a matter of purpose.
We represent health systems across the country that serve diverse populations in every community. Our members work tirelessly to eliminate barriers to care, reduce disparities, and build systems that welcome and serve all patients — because access to care is a right, not a privilege.
Even as national conversations evolve and policies shift, our dedication remains steadfast: to uphold the principles of equity, to listen to the voices of marginalized patients, and to ensure that our health systems reflect the values of fairness, compassion, and inclusion.
We remain committed to being champions of access for all — and to building a future where no patient is left behind.
Background
Since 2011, Advancing Access at Leading Health Systems
The Patient Access Collaborative has provided a forum for the nation's leading health systems to advance patient access to ambulatory care since its founding in 2011.
Membership is by invitation, fostering collaboration among leaders from:
- Academic health systems with schools of medicine
- Freestanding children's hospitals
- CMS PPS-exempt cancer hospitals
Member health systems manage 500,000 to over 6 million patient encounters annually.
Annual Symposium
Hosted by a Member Health System
Our main Symposium brings access leaders together each year to share ideas on the most challenging aspects of patient access. Each gathering is hosted by one of our member health systems.
2026 Host
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center,
Nationwide Children's & The James Cancer Center
- 2025Houston — MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas Children's Hospital & Houston Methodist
- 2024Emory Healthcare
- 2023Michigan State University Health Care
- 2022University of Colorado Health & University of Colorado School of Medicine
- 2019University of Kentucky HealthCare & Texas Children's Hospital
- 2018Indiana University Health & Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
- 2017Mayo Clinic & Boston Children's Hospital
- 2016University of Washington Medicine
- 2015University of Alabama Birmingham Medicine
- 2014University of Utah Health Care
- 2013Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- 2012The Emory Clinic
- 2011Duke University Medical Center
“We are constantly looking to the Patient Access Collaborative to be that constant in our access journey, providing new and fresh ideas…”
Andrea Mumaw, BSN, RN
Deputy Director of Patient Access, SIU Medicine