It seems like consultants and vendors dominate many of the educational sessions at big conferences. That's not always a bad thing, but it is nice to hear the honest-to-goodness, direct-from-the-horse's-mouth experiences of your colleagues. So it's welcome news that HFMA this year added a "featured speaker" track that boasts more hospital and health system heavyweights.
Glenn Steele, president and CEO of Geisinger Health System, kicks things off Monday by sharing how his pioneering organization became one of the darlings of integrated healthcare delivery. Geisinger employs more than 750 physicians nationally, nicely positioning itself for the anticipated future of bundled payments and quality-based pay. Expect the man of Steele to discuss organizational and cultural concerns, tactics for aligning incentives and how his leaders get docs and clinicians on the same page.
And with revenue and clinical analytics increasingly becoming a shared concern among CFOs and CIOs, a session led on Wednesday by Hospital Corporation of America CMO Jonathan Perlin should be well-attended. As former CEO and Under Secretary for Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Perlin is widely regarded as a leader in clinical informatics and performance improvement. He'll no doubt have valuable insights to share on his experience with aligning technology and clinical processes at both organizations.