Spring Leadership Forum 2023

Event Date: 3/27/2023 - 3/30/2023

Event Overview

Evolving strategy against a backdrop of rapid change

Join the top executives from Alliance member health plans across the country at our Spring Leadership Forum. The healthcare industry alone provides powerful mandates for evolution—the industry’s ongoing navigation of a “post COVID” world is fraught with network adequacy challenges, consumer demand and the finding the right mix of virtual health care. Multiple epidemics, including mental health and substance abuse disorders, are only exacerbated by social determinants. Market shifts are driven by federal and state regulatory mandates and tech company plays alike. But Alliance health plan leaders aren’t only dealing with upheaval specific to our industry; we are thinking about the forces shaping our environments much more broadly and the impact these will have on our short-term priorities and long-term strategies. From climate change to geopolitical unrest, immigration policy to reproduction rights, “quiet quitting” and virtual work to the presidential election and state budget planning, we’ll engage in scenario-driven exploratory discussions to mitigate risks and encourage growth oriented brainstorming. We’ll also learn resilience-building tactics and strategies to ready our teams for the pivots that surely lie ahead.

Featured guest speakers

The New Era of (Re)gathering: (Re)building Connections and Cultures One Meeting at a Time

Priya Parker, Author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

As we enter the next normal, how do we re-gather? How do we ease the apprehension? How can companies develop a hybrid meeting and event culture that equally engages those back in the office, and those employees permanently working from home? How can we build connection among colleagues that have never met in real life? In this insightful conversation, Priya Parker answers important questions on how to rethink and rebuild a post-pandemic approach to gathering our teams. Join us for the final installment of our Cathy K. Eddy Leadership Lecture Series as we explore the insights Priya offers from her work with companies and groups from across all industries. We will expand our understanding of leadership and how the ways we gather our employees must evolve if we are to continue building a sense of community in our organizations.

The Innovation Adoption Equation: Removing the guesswork

Frances Cairns, Founder and CEO
C\R Strategy Partners

Our members are at the center of all we do but making that manifest in our innovation framework is easier said than done. “Innovation” as a function can quickly get stalled by other mission-critical needs (NSA and price transparency, anyone?). In this session, product innovation consultant Frances Cairns takes the audience on an exploration of an Aligned Innovation Framework that defines and productizes unmet customer needs, leading to greater engagement, satisfaction and outcomes. We’ll move through the four gates of this framework, from a readiness inventory and unmet need research through design and validation, and into the engineering and mapping that ultimately lead to a MVP, pilot testing, and eventually scale. Attendees will walk away with a fresh perspective on what it takes to truly embed innovation so that it delivers results as consistently as every other mission-critical element you need to leapfrog the competition and stay relevant to your stakeholders.

How will the doctor see you now? Healthcare delivery evolution in the face of access challenges, pressures for omnichannel delivery, and new regulatory mandates

Ken Leonczyk Jr., Vice President, Market Solutions Strategy
Optum

Meet senior health care industry thought leader and strategist Ken Leonczyk, who has been advising healthcare organizations on strategy, performance management, and payer/provider relations for over two decades. In this thoughtful discussion, Ken engages Alliance members in an exploration of the most pressing challenges healthcare delivery systems must overcome, and the evolution they must complete, if they are to survive the rapidly changing healthcare landscape. Together, we will dig into the macro-trends impacting our provider owners and partners and how their response impacts all of us as Provider Sponsored and Provider Aligned health plans. And we’ll explore the key strategic decisions that give healthcare organizations the biggest ability to influence the industry’s future structure.

Meeting highlights

Reconnect with your Alliance executive peer network during carefully crafted group experiences in the live music capital of the world, Austin, TX.
Have candid discussion with CEOs about the transformational shifts occurring at Alliance member health plans across the country, and enjoy facilitated group ideation and sharing of the best tactics that have moved the needle on key initiatives.
Attend the Alliance Board of Directors meeting and participate in the discussion regarding the latest developments in the Alliance's strategic planning process.

Who should attend

Alliance health plan leaders in the following roles:

Chief executive officer
Chief medical officer/medical director
Chief operating officer
Chief financial officer
C-level executives
Business strategy and development executives
Government-sponsored healthcare programs executive sponsors

Thank you to our event sponsors

Platinum

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Sponsor

Agenda

Updated: February 22, 2023
(*Note: Download the complete agenda from the Event's Documents tab)

AGENDA AT A GLANCE

MON, MAR 27
6:00pm	Welcome reception
TUES, MAR 28
7:30am	Networking breakfast
9:00am	Welcome to Austin! Meet Baylor Scott & White, this meeting’s host plan
9:30am	Alliance update and look ahead from Alliance president Joe Lastinger
10:00am	Keynote Address and Cathy K Eddy Leadership Lecture Series, featuring Priya Parker The New Era of (Re)Gathering: (Re)Building connections and culture one meeting at a time
11:00am	Book signing with Priya and Networking break
11:30am	The employer view: Short and Long-term threats influencing their thinking on healthcare spend
12:30pm	Networking luncheon
1:30pm	The Innovation Adoption Equation: Removing the guesswork
3:00pm	Break
3:30pm	Lightbulb moments: Flash case studies from HPA member executives
4:30pm	Sessions adjourn
6:00pm	Networking dinner
WED, MAR 29
7:30am	Networking breakfast - Mansfield
9:00am	Welcome back! Morning Keynote: Payer Impacts! An update on the shifting regulatory and policy landscape
10:15am	Break
10:45am	How will the doctor see you now? Healthcare delivery evolution in the face of access challenges, pressures for omnichannel delivery, and new regulatory mandates
12:00pm	Networking luncheon
1:00pm	Health Plan CEO Panel discussion
2:00pm	Sessions adjourn
3:00pm	Board of Directors Meeting
6:00pm	Networking dinner
THUR, MAR 30
7:30am	Networking breakfast

MONDAY, MARCH 27

6:00PM

Welcome reception

Guadalupe

TUESDAY, MARCH 28

7:30AM	Networking breakfast - Mansfield
9:00am	Welcome to Austin! Meet Baylor Scott & White, this meeting’s host plan	Jeff Ingrum Baylor Scott & White Health Plan
9:30am	Welcome! Alliance update and look ahead	Joe Lastinger, President Health Plan Alliance Coreen Dicus-Johnson, President & CEO Network Health Plan
10:00AM	Keynote Address and Cathy K Eddy Leadership Lecture Series The New Era of (Re)Gathering: (Re)Building connections and culture one meeting at a time As we enter the next normal, how do we re-gather? How do we ease the apprehension? How can companies develop a hybrid meeting and event culture that equally engages those back in the office, and those employees permanently working from home? How can we build connection among colleagues that have never met in real life? In this insightful conversation, Priya Parker answers important questions on how to rethink and rebuild a post-pandemic approach to gathering our teams. Join us for the final installment of our Cathy K. Eddy Leadership Learning Series as we explore the insights Priya offers from her work with companies and groups from across all industries. We will expand our understanding of leadership and how the ways we gather our employees must evolve if we are to continue building a sense of community in our organizations.	Priya Parker Strategic Advisor and Author, The Art of Gathering Cathy Eddy Founder Health Plan Alliance
11:00am	Book signing with Priya Parker and Networking Break
11:30am	The Employer View: Short and Long-term threats influencing their thinking on healthcare spend
12:30PM	Networking Luncheon
1:30PM	The Innovation Adoption Equation: Removing the guesswork Our members are at the center of all we do but making that manifest in our innovation framework is easier said than done. “Innovation” as a function can quickly get stalled by other mission-critical needs (NSA and price transparency, anyone?). In this session, product innovation consultant Frances Cairns takes the audience on an exploration of an Aligned Innovation Framework that defines and productizes unmet customer needs, leading to greater engagement, satisfaction, and outcomes. We’ll move through the four gates of this framework, from a readiness inventory and unmet need research through design and validation, and into the engineering and mapping that ultimately lead to a MVP, pilot testing, and eventually scale. Attendees will walk away with a fresh perspective on what it takes to truly embed innovation so that it delivers results as consistently as every other mission-critical element you need to leapfrog the competition and stay relevant to your stakeholders.	Frances Cairns Founder and CEO C\R Strategy Partners
3:00PM	Networking Break
3:30PM	Lightbulb moments: Flash case studies from HPA member executives In this fast-paced, facilitated group ideation session, Alliance member health plan leaders share a “lightbulb moment” – a quick overview of their best tactics that have moved the needle on key initiatives. Examples may include effective provider partnership strategies; impactful outreach efforts that have engendered engagement among your member population; workforce management strategies that, once implemented, have improved satisfaction or retention; tactics that have radically reduced costs or managed risk, and more. Walk away with a collection of new ideas to take back to your teams.
4:30PM	Sessions Adjourn
6:00PM	Networking Dinner

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29

7:30AM	Networking Breakfast
9:00AM	Welcome back! Morning Keynote: Payer Impacts! An update on the shifting regulatory and policy landscape Join your Alliance peers for thispresentation with the latest updates on policy makers' activity and priorities in Washington, and how those are being translated into regulatory and operational guidance for health plans and hospital systems. Together we will compare notes on how your health plan (and your owners/partners) are grappling with regulatory requirements and anticipating new policy moves: Reimbursement Changes and Challenges – Proposed updates to Medicare Advantage Risk Adjustment; Medicaid redeterminations; price transparency; implications of the end of the Public Health Emergency Health Equity at an Inflection Point – CMS updates; pitfalls and opportunities; competing state and federal policies Privacy in an Evolving Legal and Digital Landscape – New challenges in collecting, tracking and storing PHI; implications of data collection under state anti-abortion law and gender affirming treatment policies; vendor accountability An Eye on Competition - Heightened FTC / antitrust scrutiny over healthcare M&A and vertical integration transactions; FTC’s latest proposal to ban most non-competes Industry Trends & Opportunities - Consolidation in the industry; movement toward vertically integrated systems; joint ventures to expand capabilities; value-based enterprises; leveraging digital health & artificial intelligence	Amanda Zablocki Partner Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, LLP
10:15am	Networking Break
10:45am	*How will the doctor see you now? Healthcare delivery evolution in the face of access challenges, pressures for omnichannel delivery, and new regulatory mandates* Meet senior health care industry thought leader and strategist Ken Leonczyk, who has been advising healthcare organizations on strategy, performance management, and payer/provider relations for over two decades. In this thoughtful discussion, Ken engages Alliance members in an exploration of the most pressing challenges health care delivery systems must overcome, and the evolution they must complete, if they are to survive the rapidly changing healthcare landscape. Together, we will dig into the macro-trends impacting our provider owners and partners and how their response impacts all of us as Provider Sponsored and Provider Aligned health plans. And we’ll explore the key strategic decisions that give health care organizations the biggest ability to influence the industry’s future structure. Workforce is top-of-mind for health system executives. What are the root causes of their challenges and how can they compete for the staff of the future? How big is "big enough to compete" and what moves are delivery systems making to get there? In this new phase of consumer-driven care, patients are demanding a shift to lower cost, more convenient, and friction-less sites for care. How are traditional delivery systems responding? Big moves by big players signal a new and more sophisticated kind of "Payvider". Which are flashes in the pan and which fundamentally change the industry's pace of play? The hype and reality of healthcare disruptors. What’s the role of digital health for provider organizations?	Ken Leonczyk Vice President, Market Solutions Strategy Optum
12:00PM	Networking Luncheon
1:00PM	Health Plan CEO Panel Discussion Lean into a candid discussion with CEOs from Alliance member health plans across the country: How are we continuing to transform to serve our members, maintain strong partnerships, and deliver strong outcomes for all stakeholders? Every organization uniquely approaches these mandates, and our panel of CEOs shares their philosophy and priorities regarding these challenges. Together, we dig into the transformational shifts we’ve made in response to external pressures – from the global pandemic to market activity, member expectations and industry shifts.
2:00PM	Sessions adjourn
3:00PM	Board of Directors Meeting Health Plan Alliance board meetings are open to all Alliance member health plan representatives and invited guests
6:00PM	Networking Dinner

THURSDAY, MARCH 30

7:30AM

Networking Breakfast

Venue

Omni Austin Hotel Downtown
700 San Jacinto at 8th St
Austin, TX 78701
512.476.3700
Concierge: 512.397.4823

The hotel room block expires on March 7, 2023
Our room rate is $319 plus taxes/fees. This rate may be available three days prior and three days after our meeting dates, depending on the hotel's availability. You should call the reservations department at 888.444.6664 and ask for the Health Plan Alliance (Vizient) room rate or click here to book online. Should you call after the deadline, you will not be guaranteed to receive our group room rate or the hotel may be sold out. Please note that the group block could sell out before this date. Click here for nearby hotels.

DRESS
Business casual attire is appropriate for the meeting. Remember that the hotel meeting room temperatures vary, so we recommend that you layer clothing to be comfortable in case the room becomes either hot or cold.

GROUND TRANSPORTATION
Uber/Lyft from the Austin-Bergstrom International (AUS) airport is approximately $32 (10 mile drive). Valet parking is $25 daily and $52 for overnight valet.

AUSTIN WEATHER
View the latest weather forecast.

COVID Protocols

What to expect: Health and Safety Protocols

The Health Plan Alliance’s hallmark is the unique space we provide for our members and partners to come together and meaningfully connect around the challenges and opportunities your organizations navigate every day. The health and safety of every attendee is our top priority and we are implementing health and safety protocols for our in-person events aimed at protecting all participants.

These protocols will be updated in response to ongoing guidance from CDC and local health authorities. If you have attended Alliance in-person meetings before, know this experience will be different in many ways – but also rest assured that we remain dedicated to creating unique opportunities to connect, learn and share with your colleagues from across the country.

Please review the Updated Safety protocols HERE.

By registering to attend the event you agree and understand these specific risks noted below:

Liability Disclaimer and Release: COVID-19

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has been declared a worldwide pandemic. COVID-19 is reported to be extremely contagious. The exact methods of spread and contraction are unknown, but the virus is believed to spread from person-to-person, by contact with contaminated objects, and even possibly in the air. People reportedly can be infected and show no symptoms yet still spread the disease. COVID-19 is reported to cause serious illness and death. The Health Plan Alliance cannot prevent attendees from becoming exposed to, contracting, or spreading COVID-19 while attending a HPA event or activity. Any in-person interaction may increase the risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19.

I agree and understand these specific risks and nonetheless accept them in order to attend this HPA event. These services are of such value to me that I accept the risk of being exposed to, contracting, and/or spreading COVID-19 in order to participate in person rather than arranging for an alternative method participating or not participating at all. I further hereby forever release and waive all claims and rights against the Health Plan Alliance in connection with exposure, infection, and/or spread of COVID-19 related to utilizing their services or premises or interacting with their members. I understand that this release and waiver means I give up my right to bring any claims including for personal injuries, death, disease, property losses, or any other loss that may be released and waived under applicable law, including, but not limited to, claims of negligence, and I understand that this release and waiver prevents me from seeking damages in any way against the Health Plan Alliance, whether such damages are known or unknown, foreseen or unforeseen, or that occur now or in the future.

I understand that the Health Plan Alliance and the event venue will implement COVID-19 health and safety protocols that align with the most recent guidance released by the CDC and the local health authority. These protocols will include details regarding code of conduct and safety measures (ie, wearing masks in public spaces, maintaining physical distance during sessions, etc) for all attendees. I understand I will be expected to adhere to these guidelines.

Documents

3/29/2023

Presentation: Executive briefing: How to position yourself in the face of regulators' dramatic quality measurement shifts
Melissa Smith presents on the shifts from NCQA, changes in the Stars calculations and health equity accountability. This was shared at the Spring Leadership Forum 2023 in Austin, TX.

3/28/2023

Presentation: The Innovation Adoption Equation: Removing the guesswork
Frances Cairns takes the audience on an exploration of an Aligned Innovation Framework that defines and productizes unmet customer needs, leading to greater engagement, satisfaction, and outcomes. This was shared at the Spring Leadership Forum 2023 in Austin, TX.

3/27/2023

Presentation: Welcome to Austin! Meet Baylor Scott & White
Jeff Ingrum presents BS&W health plan's makeup, what they're working on now, and what they are thinking about on the road ahead. This was shared at the Spring Leadership Forum 2023 in Austin, TX.

3/27/2023

Presentation: Surfing the waves of change in a dynamic ACA market
BS&W shares their response to Bright and Friday Health's exit from their ACA marketplace. This was shared at the Spring Leadership Forum 2023 in Austin, TX.

3/27/2023

Presentation: Leveraging technology like RPA to increase efficiency and improve outcomes
BS&W shares how they have implemented operational efficiencies and navigated recent challenges in pursuit of scale. This was shared at the Spring Leadership Forum 2023 in Austin, TX.

3/27/2023

Presentation: Payer Impacts! An update on the shifting regulatory and policy landscape
Sheppard Mullin discusses the latest updates on policy makers' activity and priorities in Washington, and how those are being translated into regulatory and operational guidance for health plans and hospital systems. This was shared at the Spring Leadership Forum 2023 in Austin, TX.

3/27/2023

Presentation: How will the doctor see you now? Healthcare delivery evolution in the face of access challenges, pressures for omnichannel delivery, and new regulatory mandates
Ken Leonczyk engages Alliance members in an exploration of the most pressing challenges health care delivery systems must overcome, and the evolution they must complete, if they are to survive the rapidly changing healthcare landscape. This was shared at the Spring Leadership Forum 2023 in Austin, TX.

3/21/2023

Agenda: Spring Leadership Forum, March 27-30
Updated 3/21/23. Join the top executives from Alliance member health plans across the country at our Spring Leadership Forum. Alliance health plan leaders aren't only dealing with upheaval specific to our industry; we are thinking about the forces shaping our environments much more broadly and the impact these will have on our short-term priorities and long-term strategies. From climate change to geopolitical unrest, immigration policy to reproduction rights, "quiet quitting" and virtual work to the presidential election and state budget planning, we'll engage in scenario-driven exploratory discussions to mitigate risks and encourage growth oriented brainstorming. We'll also learn resilience-building tactics and strategies to ready our teams for the pivots that surely lie ahead.

3/15/2023

Priya Parker: Virtual Gathering Guide
Priya Parker shares 7 steps to make video calls effective and enjoyable in her Virtual Gathering Guide.