Hello from sunny San Diego!
Along with Truveta CEO Terry Myerson and President Tony Mestres, I have had the honor of representing Truveta at the American Hospital Association (AHA) Leadership Summit. The last time this event was held in-person (2019), Truveta did not even officially exist yet. It’s incredible to think how much has changed in healthcare since then. And how much progress Truveta, and its more than 20 health system members, have made.
We have had a simply fantastic time attending keynotes and panel presentations, meeting with colleagues from our member health systems and potential new members, and dreaming of potential partnerships. For many of us, there is still a rush of excitement that has come with resuming business travel and connecting with people in person. I, certainly, continue to be grateful for the tremendous innovations from vaccines to therapies to careful precautions, that have made it safe to come together again.
The expertise gathered here is tremendous and it has been interesting and inspiring to hear from many shaping the healthcare landscape of our country. A few themes have resonated with me:
- Continued awe and appreciation for the resilience of the healthcare community – On the heels of the biggest pandemic in 100 years, there has been much deserved appreciation and admiration for the resilience of our healthcare community. As the world shut down and hospitals were stretched to the breaking point, healthcare has been resilient. Healthcare workers are devoted to a life of service and have continued to provide essential services to our communities during the hardest of times. Continuing to celebrate those who take care of patients, their communities, and our country was a predominant, and important, theme.
- The hurricane continues and will forever change healthcare – Rick Pollack, President and CEO of the AHA, welcomed us with thoughtful remarks on Sunday. Calling 2022 the “day after the hurricane”, he stressed the tremendous challenges still facing the healthcare community – workforce shortages; inflation driving up costs for food, drugs, equipment, and employees; and the enormous pressures to ensure financial stability as the pandemic continues. While the “ringing in the streets has stopped, the urgency of the healthcare crisis has not.” The rapid expansion of telehealth was just one of many developments highlighted that will continue as healthcare continues to evolve.
- Advancing health equity must accelerate – Joanne Conroy, President and CEO, Dartmouth Health, was announced as the 2024 Chair of the AHA. She shared one of the most profound statements that resonated deeply with me, “A person’s zip code predicts their health outcome more than their genetic code.” Throughout presentations and discussions, there is clearly a critical need to provide health systems with tools to help them advance health equity. At Truveta, we believe deeply in the importance of delivering equitable care and our data platform can help.
- Strategic partnerships and effective collaboration are beneficial for companies and communities – Clay Holderman, CEO of UnityPoint Health, gave a fascinating presentation alongside Alan Kaplan, MD, CEO of UW Health, on how two bitter competitors forged a path to rebuild and reimagine healthcare for their community. Through sharing best practices for coming together, they highlighted the value of collaboration and how by working together, they could align clinical services for their communities, better manage supply chain challenges, and consolidate key programs. UnityPoint Health is a Truveta member and a great example of the power of building a learning community.
- Innovation and strategic investments will be required to fund the future of healthcare – With growing financial pressure, digital transformation and strategic innovations can help hospitals and health systems ensure financial stability while delivering high-quality care. I enjoyed listening to Dipa Mehta, Advocate Aurora’s System Vice President, Corporate Development and Ventures – and a Truveta Board Member – share her perspective and lessons on innovation investment. She highlighted Truveta as an example of health systems coming together to advance patient care, while earning royalties to deliver value back to communities.
Perhaps the highlight for me was seeing Terry join Providence President and CEO Rod Hochman, M.D., Henry Ford Health EVP and CFO Robin Damschroder, FACHE, in a panel discussion during the opening keynote. It’s always a thrill to hear the Truveta story from a big stage. Terry, Rod, and Robin discussed the origin of Truveta and how more than 20 health systems came together in unprecedented fashion to create the most complete, timely, and highest quality source of health data in the U.S.; how unstructured data is so much more valuable than claims data for learning and advancing care; and why the world needs better data now.
A few highlights from the discussion:
- Rod: Google and Facebook want our data for their own benefit. Why wouldn’t a group of health systems come together and form their own data company? Power of scale is incredibly important. Let’s build it ourselves and design it around the provider and our communities.
- Robin: Large scale data is required. We knew we couldn’t do it on our own. At the same time, disruptors are taking the data from us. Truveta is a great way to accelerate patient outcomes and health equity while building a learning community. With Truveta’s daily updated data, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
- Terry: The vision of saving lives with data is so powerful. RWE is $5B/year of data revenue and 100% captured by payers who sell claims. Safety, effectiveness, and clinical trials are huge opportunities that will benefit from a different approach.
- Rod: With Truveta, we can have answers on how to best care for patients with specific conditions. We no longer have to make a best guess or rely on a journal article that is five years old. We can learn from data in real time.
- Robin: Data that is very stale, singularly focused on an individual community, and silo’d limits learning for health equity. Truveta offers a collective source of data and creates an opportunity to learn from each other to advance health equity.
- Terry: If you are a device manufacturer, you have no data on how well your device is working in the US. After clinical trials, you are flying blind from the point of approval – you have had no data. During COVID, the U.S. was using claims data 90 days old or data from Israel. Truveta changes this. We can learn from the most complete, timely and highest quality data in the U.S.
And then there are the fun moments. Like posing with Dipa, Terry, and Tony in front of a silly San Diego tourist sign as we make another memory together! I value this time with my colleagues from across the industry and my teammates. Thank you to the AHA for an incredible Leadership Summit.
– Lisa