Digital Health Investment Symposium 2022 Recap

Last week, KLAS was privileged to host our annual Digital Health Investment Symposium (DHIS) in Park City, Utah. In a day and a half, the attendees were able to accomplish a lot as they came together. I interacted with many of them, and some told me that the symposium was one of the best events they had attended to date. It was said by one attendee that this year’s symposium was 100 times better than when they first came to DHIS four years ago.

While I love this feedback and while KLAS does put a lot of effort into improving the event each year, most of the credit for DHIS’ success goes to the attendees themselves. This symposium was full of their energy and their willingness to engage with the content and the variety of perspectives represented. 

I would also like to recognize the unflagging support of our wonderful sponsors: TripleTree, Korn Ferry, L.E.K, Marwood Group, and McDermott Will & Emery. They help make DHIS the valuable event that it is, and we are grateful for all the work they put into making DHIS a success.

What Sets This Event Apart

The overarching goal for KLAS events is always to have the right people in the room. For DHIS specifically, that means having good representation from all three key stakeholders—investors, vendors, and providers. We had no empty seats this year and strong, mostly even representation from all sides. I heard many times that attendees created relationships and had more productive conversations because of the strong representation.

Many of the attendees told me they enjoyed the format of the content and the rich dialogue and discussion throughout the symposium. Both keynote speakers, Dr. Tina Shah and Dr. John D. Halamka, really helped to set the tone for each day, and their speeches tied in nicely with a lot of our themes.

We typically always feature vendor executive leadership panels on certain themes or topics at DHIS, and this year was no exception. But this year we added a general provider panel. Many attendees appreciated this additional panel because it allowed people to get the provider perspective firsthand. It was highly valuable for attendees to hear about providers’ challenges directly from their own mouths rather than secondhand.

There was also a dedicated block of time for networking so that attendees could have more quality meetings instead of attempting to network throughout the symposium. Often in other conferences, participating in the content becomes a secondary priority. Attendees at DHIS could better engage with the content as they didn’t have to worry about missing an opportunity to meet everyone.

Healthcare Pioneers

Adam Gale, KLAS’ CEO, kicked the event off by talking about some of his pioneer ancestors that came to Utah. They were not people like Jim Bridger that already knew everything about how to live off the land. Instead, his ancestors were ordinary, everyday people that came to the desert and then had to figure out how to create civilization. He compared that experience to that of the attendees, recognizing that the attendees of DHIS are modern-day pioneers that may not have everything figured out, but their work can and will make a difference and change healthcare as we know it. This was a powerful message that attendees definitely identified with.

Moving the Market

Another goal of the symposium was to help attendees to reinforce some of their own strategies or uncover opportunities they had not thought about. At least one provider shared that while they may not have come with a specific problem, they came to learn. And as attendees heard the keynote speakers and participated in the tabletop discussions and panels, they started thinking about what their organizations do well but also about where they have gaps. Then each attendee started evaluating their own processes, their system, and their organization as a whole. The attendees planned to take some ideas and best practices back to their leadership and their teams.

DHIS generates so much great energy, but it’s just a reality that the energy will dissipate over time. So, for those that came, I challenge you to put the content and the discussions you had to good use. I hope that you have gone back to your organizations ready to share and implement your thoughts and ideas. Look to help move the market forward by filling some of the gaps or improving on some of the uphill climbs that healthcare faces.

And if you enjoyed your time in Park City this year, we ask you to add DHIS to your calendar for next September. Around 60% of our participants this year had been to more than one DHIS because they recognized its value. We would love to have you come back to DHIS in 2023.