Health Evolution is gearing up for Summit 2023, which will take place April 19-21 in Laguna Niguel, California. As we prepare to welcome leaders from across the health care industry for this dynamic gathering, I spoke with Health Evolution Executive Vice President Rob Lazerow, who develops the content for Health Evolution’s convenings. Read on to learn why Health Evolution Summit is a must-attend event for health care industry CEOs and what participating executives can look forward to this year.
Thank you for taking the time to chat with me today, Rob. As a newer member of the Health Evolution team, I’m excited to learn about what makes Health Evolution Summit so special.
Why is Health Evolution Summit a must-attend gathering for CEOs?
Thanks for talking today, Ashley, and welcome to Health Evolution! I’m thrilled to be working with you.
Health Evolution Summit is a must-attend gathering for three reasons: the caliber of the community, the cross-industry collaboration, and the candid discussions. Summit is our signature convening, and it brings together an unparalleled community of influential CEOs from health systems, health plans, and life sciences companies, plus select policymakers, investors, retailers, and technology leaders. This mix of the industry’s most prominent leaders allows us to have truly cross-industry dialogue. Participants appreciate engaging with both their peers and counterparts to expand perspective, build new relationships, and make collective impact. Participants also value Summit’s off-the-record setting and intimate environment, which foster candid conversations across our Big Discussions, Brass Tacks Discussions, Fellowship breakouts, and social gatherings. And of course, the stunning setting in Laguna certainly doesn’t hurt. You’ll find plenty of CEOs deep in conversation in the iconic Adirondack chairs overlooking the ocean.
And what will those CEOs be talking about? What are the CEO-centric themes planned for the 2023 Summit?
As always, CEOs who participate in Summit this April can expect a compelling set of executive-level conversations. Our Big Discussions will have two overarching themes.
First, with economic pressures still top of mind for CEOs, we’ll discuss the interplay between health care and inflation. We’ll examine near-term questions of how leaders are navigating the current operating environment, but we’ll also focus on crucial, longer-term questions about how we confront health care inflation industrywide. I’d like to dig into the future of Medicare Advantage as part of that conversation.
Second, we’ll also explore how to continue driving innovation despite the economic headwinds. For example, we’ll discuss how leaders are embracing ethical innovation and new partnerships to achieve breakthrough discoveries and make societal impact, especially to reduce health disparities.
In addition to the Big Discussions, we’ll have an exciting set of Brass Tacks Discussions. These highly interactive conversations provide a perfect venue for cross-industry CEOs to collaborate. The Brass Tacks Discussions will center on Health Evolution’s six focus areas: care delivery redesign, payment redesign, community-focused care, innovation & discovery, organizational transformation, and mental & behavioral health.
I look forward to sharing more details on the agenda and outstanding discussion leaders in the coming weeks.
Interested in participating in the 2023 Summit? Apply to attend
How will the 2023 Summit be different than years’ past?
Fortunately for the avid Summit alumni, there will be plenty of what they love about the Summit once again this April: the incredible community, lively discussions featuring the industry’s most influential CEOs, and ample time for networking and relationship building. Similar to last year, we’ll once again have a unified Summit campus experience with events spread across our two adjacent hotels, the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel and the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Spa. They’re both outstanding properties.
In terms of what will be different for Summit 2023, we’ll be increasing the number of smaller, interactive sessions through both the Brass Tacks Discussions and our special programming for Health Evolution Fellows. We know how much participants enjoy these smaller, conversational breakout sessions to complement the Big Discussions on our main stage.
I’m also excited to share that the Confab for Advancing Women in Leadership will formally be part of the Summit agenda in April. Prior to the pandemic, the Confab community gathered the day before Summit. But this year, we’re dedicating Wednesday late afternoon to Confab, leading right into the welcome reception, to enable even more leaders to participate. We embedded Confab as part of the recent Health Evolution Connect, and it was a highlight of the gathering. We look forward to carrying this forward to Summit.
That’s big news. Can you share more about Confab?
Absolutely. Confab is our special initiative to advance and amplify women leaders in health care. Confab creates a setting for pinnacle CEOs to share their wisdom and a national-level venue for championing rising stars. Confab includes leaders of all genders who are passionate about and are in a position to create more diverse executive teams and boards. Executives in the Confab community value the safe space to have honest and authentic conversations.
As we announced at Health Evolution Connect in September, we are thrilled to expand Confab into a year-round experience that combines both in-person and virtual gatherings. So Confab now is officially one of our Forum Roundtables, with an exceptional and dedicated group of Co-Chairs: Alex Drane, Carladenise Edwards, Dr. Nzinga Harrison, Kim Keck, and Dr. Janice Nevin.
Similar to the experience at Connect and our virtual session this past December, I expect Confab will have two main components at Summit. We’ll have a main stage program open to all Summit participants, and we’ll also host our popular Get Real breakout discussions, which will be reserved for Health Evolution Fellows to ensure the groups remain small enough for active and honest conversation.
You’ve mentioned our Health Evolution Fellows. Can you talk more about fellowship and share what makes Summit particularly special for Health Evolution Fellows?
Of course. We’re incredibly excited by the growing number of CEOs and select C-Suite executives who are participating in the Health Evolution community year-round as members of our Fellowship program. In addition to our annual in-person gatherings, Summit and Connect, we now also convene ten topic-specific Forum Roundtables, where Health Evolution Fellows meet virtually across the year.
But Summit presents a special opportunity for this exclusive group, since we’ll have so many Fellows together in one place. So, similar to last year, we’re creating a special experience for Health Evolution Fellows at Summit. Fellows will enjoy an invitation-only welcome lunch on Wednesday, the Confab Get Real breakouts on Wednesday afternoon, and a series of private breakout sessions across the day on Thursday. These discussions will be highly interactive and conversational—just like the Roundtable meetings.
We’re excited to design these Fellowship breakouts to enable different-in-kind conversations and run at issues that permeate across Roundtables. We’ll prioritize mashup topics that cut across several Roundtables so we can cross-pollinate ideas, combine different perspectives, and build relationships between leaders who participate in different Roundtables and might not typically intersect.
Interested in joining Fellowship? Apply to participate
Leaders certainly have a lot to look forward to at Summit 2023. What do you want CEOs to take away from Summit this year?
Health care CEOs face no shortage of challenges right now. A difficult economic environment and looming concerns over a potential recession. Intensifying competition and consolidation changing the strategic landscape. Widespread disparities in access, experience, and outcomes. And an exhausted workforce still grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the same time, CEOs have ample opportunity to push our industry forward. To scale beyond pilots and transform how we deliver and pay for care. To expand goals and drive societal impact. To partner across sectors to accelerate change. To harness today’s challenges to spark the innovation and leadership needed to build a better health care system for the future.
CEOs who participate in the Summit this April will leave Laguna with new ideas, new perspectives, and new relationships to catalyze change. I want CEOs to leave inspired to advance our industry’s long-term ambitions while they also confront near-term challenges. And I want cross-industry CEOs to leave Summit committed to working together to solve our most complex challenges and protect the communities we collectively serve.
I can’t wait to see the Health Evolution community in Laguna this April. This will be one of our best Summits yet.
