For our Health TechNet meeting on March 23, we held a special morning seminar jointly with the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce at their offices in Tysons Corner, Virginia, from 8:00-10:30 am, on the topic: “Revolutionizing Healthcare: Communicating Value and Improved Outcomes.
The purpose of this seminar was to get some inside information from-- and interact with—purchasers of, and investors in new healthcare products and services. It’s one thing to have a great new idea and a good business plan, but it’s quite another to find ways to adapt a product to the needs of providers, their patients, and those who pay or reimburse for it. Getting to the right people, having an effective pitch, communicating value, and completing the purchasing cycle are often the most difficult part of gaining success and revolutionizing healthcare.
To learn more about how all this works, we featured speakers from some of the largest health centers in the DC metro area, who opened up about how to do business with them. These included Medstar, Inova, Aetna, and others, who not only are purchasing new technologies but are financially investing in them as well. They will included:
- Pete Celano, Director of Consumer Health Initiatives, MedStar Health
- Leatt Gilboa, Manager, Telehealth Strategy & Operations, MedStar Health
- Sakinah Abdullah, MSN, RN, Manager, Patient Care Services, Sinai Hospital, Baltimore, MD
- Vicki Harrison, CEO, Optimium Health
- Rick Gordon, Director, Inova Personalized Health Accelerator
- Dr. Bill Fried, Capitol Market Senior Medical Director, Aetna
Some of the key topics of discussion were:
- What are we looking for in new technology?
- How should a vendor engage with our organization?
- How does our innovation center interface with the larger organization?
- To what extent has the burden of care changed or shifted due to technology? Has technology allowed more or less of a focus on the patient? Explain.
- What financial or operational criteria do vendors need to meet in order to be considered?
- Where have new technologies let your organization down in the past – e.g. over promised benefits, long implementation periods, not user friendly, etc.?
- Are the criteria for new technologies (vendors) any different from established technologies (vendors)? If yes, how?
- If you were open to piloting new technology where you might see value, what would you expect from the vendor in order to participate in a pilot?
This was also an opportunity to meet and interact with other members of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, who were there as well. For more information on the Chamber and its impressive membership, see http://www.novachamber.org/.