KLAS DHIS: Another HLTH, JP Morgan or HIMSS?

What would you do if you were able to convene a group of extremely intelligent healthcare leaders, digital health investors and healthcare IT company executives for a day?

In August, KLAS escaped the heat of the city and headed to the mountainside in search of the answer to that question.

KLAS’ Digital Health Investment Symposium (DHIS) brought together that group of healthcare leaders to learn, connect and explore ways move to healthcare forward.

As the sun set on the evening before KLAS DHIS18 got underway; Dr. Don Rucker of the ONC, Ken Lawonn, CIO of Sharp Healthcare and Ricky Sahu, CEO of the startup 1upHealth, took the stage.

Together they discussed how government, healthcare organizations and entrepreneurs are working to free patient data.

The diversity of perspective made for a discussion I likely won’t soon forget.

Though if I’m honest, trying to remember everything from the event is an impossible task. We heard from Chet Robson, Medical Director of Walgreens.

He evangelized the need of patient engagement in an increasingly consumer-focused system.

Initially, I hadn’t considered Walgreens and their contemporaries to be a driving force in the future of digital health. But Robson’s passion around the “need to meet the consumer where they are” made many in the room sit up and take note.

With these conversations as the backdrop for DHIS18, I found myself in a room full of visionaries who were willing to have a real conversation about how we drive healthcare forward. They were passionate about patient wellness, improving the patient experience and removing the obstacles standing in the way of innovation.

To me, KLAS Digital Health Investment Symposium represents the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship and leaders making change in the healthcare industry.

In contrast to some of the other events I’ve attended, this environment allowed attendees to learn, share, establish deep connections and recommit to improving healthcare.  

Take JP Morgan for example. It is great because it draws all of healthcare to ten square blocks surrounding Union Square in San Francisco. But I find myself running around a proverbial zoo for 3 days trying to pack it all in. And heaven forbid it starts to rain!

HIMSS, the “you gotta be there” show for vendors. Because where else do you get the opportunity to put your company on display?

 DHIS took the best of these worlds and scaled them to the size of a conference room nestled into the mountains of Snowbird Resort. An event small enough to foster genuine interaction, but robust enough to leave attendees wanting more.

I found time to foster new business relationships, instead of sprinting from 20-minute-meeting to 20-minute-meeting between booths in Orlando. And it’s hard to argue with the idea of getting work done while breathing in the fresh air of an early morning hike.

So, what happens when you get some of the smartest minds of digital health together for a day? Well, it depends on who you are:

Providers came to share their expectations for the future of digital health, speaking directly to the vendors and investors who can bolster change through increased capital. Digital Health executives were able to speak directly with the boots-on-the-ground customers on how best to shape their tools and edge out the competition.

Investors deepened their understanding of the market, to better gauge if their investment themes are still relevant and where to consider investing next.

The thought leadership brought to KLAS DHIS18 was rounded out by the work of the Marwood Group, L.E.K. Consulting and Triple Tree, all of whom contributed their perspectives and research to a successful event. To these partners we again say, “thank you”. To all those that attended and contributed to the events success… “thank you”.

When we asked attendees if they’d consider joining us again, the answer was a resounding “yes!” So, as we prepare for DHIS19, we want to share what we learned this year. Stay tuned as KLAS publishes panel discussions on Precision Medicine, Cybersecurity, AI, Revenue Cycle Management and more.

 Interested in KLAS DHIS19? Let us know about it!