By Parth Shah, Head of Product, AssureCare
Twitter: @AssureCareLLC
It is refreshing to finally be back in the full swing of in-person conferences and events, and I feel particularly energized and excited for the future of healthcare upon returning from AHIP 2022 in Las Vegas. AHIP is a national organization that is “committed to driving the innovation needed to create a more equitable, affordable, and sustainable health care system that allows every American to access the best possible care and live the healthiest possible life.”
AHIP’s core mission and value of Guiding Greater Health was a recurring theme throughout the conference’s speaking sessions as well as discussions on the exhibit floor. Here are some key takeaways I observed from the conference:
- Building a Better Tomorrow, Today
There were many meaningful conversations throughout the conference dedicated to working collaboratively to improve quality care and patient outcomes. Many sessions focused on how technology innovations, re-aligned roles/workflows, data, re-shaped strategies, etc. all play a critical role in building a better healthcare system. For example, maximizing pharmacists’ roles as caregivers was a key theme throughout the conference. These crucial members of the care team are the future of driving access and affordability of patient care to the communities they serve. - Improving Access and Equity of Care
Not surprisingly, there were several sessions devoted to access and equity of care, which are two foundational pillars of AHIP. These sessions included drug affordability, improving community outreach to foster health equity, affirming healthcare for LGBTQ+ members, leveraging equity quality measures to reduce disparities and improve outcomes, and much more. Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) is also a very important hot topic in our industry today, and there were several sessions devoted to leveraging SDoH data to improve quality of care and decision making for each patient’s unique needs. - Expediting Go to Market Timelines
Go to market strategies was a topic I kept hearing during sessions and on the exhibit floor. For meaningful change to happen in our industry, we need to get the right tools to the right people in a timely manner. Expediting go to market timelines is going to be a big focus for all health IT vendors in our industry in the year ahead. - Conference Attendance Still Not at Pre-Covid Rates
While we are seeing a much-anticipated return to in-person events and conferences, attendance is still not at pre-Covid rates yet. This is certainly due to spikes in cases throughout the country, company restrictions on travel, personal decisions to not attend in-person meetings/events, etc. However, it’s truly wonderful to return to in-person conferences to connect with customers, prospects, colleagues, and peers. Conferences such as AHIP are extremely important to push the needle forward in collaborating to improve the access and affordability of healthcare for our nation.
Governor John Kasich’s keynote offered a very unique perspective on the healthcare industry and how everyone has to do their part to ensure healthcare remains available and accessible to all, oftentimes a perspective not heard. The event concluded with a session from bestselling author Arthur C. Brooks and Grammy and Academy Award-Winning artist, Common, on the importance of focusing on love and happiness to live a better, happier life post-pandemic. These were truly inspiring words to go by!