Agenda – 2017 Questrom Health & Life Sciences Conference

Friday, October 27th, 2017 at the Boston University Questrom School of Business

8:00am Registration in Atrium
Coffee service and light refreshments will be provided. Please arrive by 8:30am to allow adequate time for check-in and seating.
8:55 – 10:00am Opening Keynote: Setting the Stage for Empowering Patients (Questrom Auditorium)

DescriptionThe industry buzz right now is focused on how different stakeholders from payers to pharmaceutical companies and healthcare delivery organizations are becoming more patient-centered and value-based, but what does this mean? As the the industry becomes more interdependent, how do these changes empower conversations between patients and providers to focus on health and wellness?

  • 8:55am – Opening remarks by Conference Co-Chairs, Faraz M. Sabet and Kendra Wright
  • 9:00am – Keynote address by Adrienne Boissy, MD, MA, Chief Experience Officer, Cleveland Clinic Health System
  • 9:55am – Alumni Award Presentation delivered by Ned Rimer, MBA, M.Ed
10:10 – 10:30am Coffee & Networking Break in Atrium
10:30 – 11:20am Breakout Panels & Workshops – Session 1

  • Panel: Moving Beyond EMR and Claims Data (9th Floor Trustee Ballroom)
    • DescriptionBig data is a hot topic these days in many industries, but for many it is still a confusing and nebulous concept. This panel aims to demystify how big data is incorporated into health care. Trusted firms with data analytic capabilities and a future oriented cognitive focus are poised to play a major role in the next phase of healthcare. Capitalizing on their market position, through data collection and AI analytics, they can buttress a level of transparency needed for value-based care and the IHI Triple Aim. This panel will examine current trends, challenges, and future outlook of real-time data collection to better support outcomes, patient health and engagement, and communication between interdisciplinary care.
  • Panel: Pharma’s New Best Friend, Patients (Questrom Auditorium)
    • DescriptionPharmaceutical companies have withstood significant criticism over the last decade for focusing on profitability rather than patient health. While these perspectives seem to be in conflict with one another, more and more pharmaceutical companies are beginning to embrace the power of the patient. This panel aims to explore how pharmaceutical companies are involving patients and focusing on their health & wellness, beyond clinical trials and marketing initiative. Needless to say, this is not an easy task given distrust among stakeholders, and challenges with increasing R&D and regulatory costs.
  • Panel: Healthcare Relations, It’s Complicated… (9th Floor Kenmore Room)
    • DescriptionWhile many patients have a positive relationship with their healthcare provider, insurers on the other hand often deal with both disgruntled patients and providers. There is a level of distrust between patients and insurance companies, while complicated processes and a lack of consistency hurt provider and payer relationships. This panel aims to explain how insurance companies are re-imagining these relationships and improving health insurance to move toward a more patient-centered approach. Moreover, how are these trends re-positioning the insurance industry and solutions offered?
11:30 – 12:20pm Breakout Panels & Workshops – Session 2

  • Panel: The Opioid Epidemic: A Massachusetts Public Health Crisis (9th Floor Trustee Ballroom)
    • DescriptionMassachusetts has surpassed the national average in opioid related deaths. Moreover, the opioid epidemic has impacted more than two-thirds of towns and communities across the Commonwealth. Our panel will be comprised of people working on the ground fighting the opioid crisis, as well as thought leaders working to change city and state policies around how we respond to this epidemic. Within this discussion, this panel will speak to to how our Boston healthcare industry is answering these challenges, and how we as a community are responding to this crisis.
  • Panel: Medical Devices: Trends, Opportunities, and Risks (9th Floor Kenmore Room)
    • DescriptionBetween 2010 and 2020, a majority of the American baby boomer population turns 65, representing 28 percent of the population (US Census Bureau). While they make up the more active and wealthiest generation in recent history, baby boomers are more likely to be challenged by chronic health issues. According to United Health Foundation, compared to 1999, in the next 14 years 55 percent more senior citizens will have diabetes than there are today, and about 25 percent more who will become obese. As medical technology advances, Baby Boomers are the early adopters and a catalyst for high quality at lower costs. As life expectancy continues to increase, the management of chronic conditions represents a challenge for this generation and for the healthcare industry. Medical technology holds promise as a high-value mechanism to maintain a high quality of life throughout retirement. This panel aims to shed light on how healthcare stakeholders consider patient preferences and commercialization barriers in developing medical devices.
  • Panel: Precision Medicine Era, the Beginning (Questrom Auditorium)
    • Description: In the consumerism world, healthcare missed the personalization and digitization train. Precision medicine, however, will redefine how patients and doctors talk about treatment options. It will take out the guess work and the extra costs associated with it, and enable doctors to treat more effectively. Our panel will include thought leaders that work in finding various approaches to treating different types of diseases, knowing that a “one size fits all” approach does not always work for complex diseases. This session will also discuss how a precision medicine approach can offer better value from providers to patients, while considering the added complexity it will bring to pricing and reimbursement between providers and payers. We will have representation from different disease fields that will show us how they are identifying and treating various problems, and how they believe precision medicine is helping us advance the way medicine will be delivered in the future.  
12:30 – 1:30pm Lunch in Metcalf Trustee Center Ballroom (9th Floor)

Lunch Keynote Address: Future of Digital Health and Care Delivery

Vera T. Tice, MSEE, BEECE, Co-Founder and Former Managing Director, Healthcare Delivery Institute at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Description: The future of digital health and care delivery lies within how the industry is cultivating innovation through advancements in technology. In a consumer-centered marketplace, health industry experts are focusing on how to enrich the way we view and interact with health indicators. Offering extraordinary experience in how consumers are taking charge of their healthcare experience, Ms. Tice brings in extensive research experience as to how Massachusetts is working towards propelling system efficiencies with digital health offerings. She will pull upon research on digital health, robotics, and artificial intelligence to look at how care delivery is shaping in the consumerism world. She will specifically examine what future trends are in the digital health space, and how care delivery could be enriched with technological advancements.

1:30 – 2:20pm Breakout Panels & Workshops – Session 3

  • Panel: Patients Have Tools, Too (Questrom Auditorium)
    • DescriptionThe Department of Health and Human Services has included greater use of technology as one of its Healthy People 2020 objectives for improving the health of all Americans. Telehealth, e-health, m-health, e-visits, personal health apps, and home health monitoring are all mechanisms that are helping patients change the way they are taking charge of their health. There are many companies focused on how we can empower patients to know what is happening with their health by mechanizing ways to track, treat and manage health outcomes with a network of providers and loved ones. Our panelists will discuss how their products use computers, wearables, phones, and other devices to help patients gain better access to their providers, and manage health outcomes with their loved ones. Additionally, they will discuss what we can expect to be future trends within the consumer health market.
  • Panel: Healthcare, Government, and Value-Based Care (9th Floor Trustee Ballroom)
    • DescriptionEach day we are hearing of potential changes to the national health policy landscape. This panel seeks to offer a bit of clarity as to how current policies are changing the way our industry is doing business and how value-based care might be incorporated into current business models. We will have participants that range from researching and helping write policy, to panelists that have to react to what the current policy is within their hospital. They will shed some light on what we might expect in the next few years, and how our Boston community can be proactive in staying patient-centered amidst policy uncertainty.
2:30 – 3:10pm Start Up Lightning Round (Questrom Auditorium)

DescriptionStartups are beginning to revolutionize the way we view and interact with healthcare. Many startups are empowering consumers to take a proactive approach to managing their health. Ranging from HIV testing to patient monitoring to clinical trials, this panel will examine how Boston-based startups are viewing their products as helping fill in the gaps we have in the healthcare industry. This lightning round will allow startups to briefly explain their product or service, then take questions on how it is working towards empowering patients and embracing health.

3:10 – 3:25pm Break in Atrium
3:25 – 4:00pm Closing Keynote: Future Vision of Health Care (Questrom Auditorium)

Jim Roosevelt, JD, Former CEO, Tufts Health Plan

Description: Over the past several years, we have seen many innovative ideas and practices within health care. Mr. Roosevelt brings in a great breadth and depth of knowledge to how the industry has been shaped over time to becoming more and more patient-focused. Looking forward, he will speak to how he sees the industry working together to create action out of ideas and how we can bring value to consumers of healthcare. He will speak to what future trends we should watch out for in the industry and how the industry can work better in harmony to create value for each stakeholder involved.

4:00 – 4:10pm Closing Remarks  (Questrom Auditorium)
Remarks to be presented by Ned Rimer, MBA, M.Ed, Faculty Director, Health Sector Management Program, Boston University Questrom School of Business
4:10pm Evening Networking Reception in Atrium
Join the speakers and industry professionals for a networking reception. Light appetizers and refreshments will be served.
5:30pm Conference Closure