Straight from the CEO: Clinicians are Vital to “The Inevitable Revolution

By David Holmberg, President and CEO of Highmark Health, first published in the Highmark Health Digital Magazine: June 30, 2021

In a webinar titled “The Inevitable Revolution: From Health Care to an Ecosystem of Health,” I traded thoughts on industry change with Annie Lamont, co-founder and managing partner at Oak HC/FT , and Seth Cohen, co-founder and co-CEO at OODA Health at the time and now president of Cedar .

I want to take just a moment to expand one point I touched on in the webinar: Clinicians and clinical quality are vital in shaping the “inevitable revolution.”

After all, this revolution can’t just be companies making disruptive changes, rolling out some innovative technology, and then declaring victory. The measure that matters will be whether the changes we make truly improve health outcomes, lower costs, and, as we say in our mission, “create a remarkable health experience, freeing people to be their best.”

So, yes, our Living Health model will be disruptive. And we have started long-term, strategic collaborations with Google Cloud and Verily Life Sciences to ensure that the platform we build will leverage the very best technology and analytics to give individuals a simpler, more personalized, more proactive path to everyday health.

But that effort would fall short without exceptional clinical quality. In the webinar, I noted that people like my 30-year-old son will look for a digital solution in almost every area of life. Still, they’re not going to use a digital solution if it doesn’t deliver the performance and results they want, and it isn’t a satisfying experience. That’s even more true for people who have mixed feelings about “going digital,” and especially with something as important as health.

to come...

The Living Health Dynamic Platform we’re building has to give people superior quality, the right balance of high-tech and high-touch, and a remarkable health experience — or they won’t be opting in to join the “revolution.” That’s why we’ve had a relentless focus on the individual and their primary clinician as the center of the system. It’s also why, like so much transformational work across our organization, the new platform draws on the expertise and insight of clinician leaders like Dr. Tony Farah at every step.

To be purposeful and successful, health industry disruption must advance evidence-based clinical pathways and practices. Disruptors must understand what individuals and clinicians need, and need removed, to make the surrounding support system more supportive. New platforms can’t just provide more information, they have to curate and provide the right information, at the right time, to drive smarter, more proactive choices and interactions that will lead to better overall health.

For all of that and more, clinical expertise and excellence are essential — and that’s part of what differentiates Highmark Health and Allegheny Health Network, as well strategic partners like Penn State Health and ChristianaCare .

In the months ahead, we’ll have more details on Living Health in [Highmark Health’s Digital Magazine] and at Living.Health . Meanwhile, I invite you to watch Annie, Seth and I discuss the many trends and forces driving the “inevitable revolution” in the health industry.

 

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