Community converges to discuss importance of improving continuum of care.

By Phil Marshall

As 11,000 baby boomers turn 65 years old every day, all of us who serve the aging population are bracing ourselves for a flood of need. The over-65 population is expected to double by 2050, and we’re already starting to feel the effects of an influx of older Americans who demand better care.

As chair of the Health Enterprises Network, I was honored to work with the amazing team that put on CONVERGE Louisville, the first-ever, full-day conference that highlighted Louisville as the nation’s epicenter for advances in aging care.

Louisville healthcare leaders are collectively putting aging care innovation in the spotlight, and rightly so. I’m proud to have helped form the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council last year to leverage the collective influence of the industry’s top CEOs. We’re focused on improving the healthcare economy of our region, with aging care innovation as a key initiative.

CONVERGE was an important opportunity to showcase Louisville’s rich history of innovation and talk about what we need to do to meet the challenges of an ever-evolving healthcare landscape.

Local and national speakers addressed some of our most pressing issues in aging care: the need for new strategies to bolster workforce development and patient engagement, the importance of leveraging the right technologies for an older audience, what Louisville can learn from Silicon Valley’s success as a hub for innovation, and how we as a community can all work together to improve population health and augment our collective continuum of care.

Key Partnerships

Two executives based out of Silicon Valley, Busy Burr, VP and Head of Healthcare Trend and Innovation for Humana, and David Rhew, CMO and VP of Enterprise Healthcare for Samsung of America, were featured.

They highlighted the benefits their teams receive by being integrated into Louisville’s healthcare market. The care advancements being developed by companies like these, nationally and internationally, benefit through partnerships with the aging care expertise that’s unique to our region.

The takeaways for me and other conference attendees were simple: We must all take risks, support entrepreneurs, celebrate and learn from our failures, continually improve our operating processes, streamline care delivery, and develop strategic partnerships to meet and exceed mounting needs.

As healthcare providers begin to care for the silver tsunami, we look forward to continuing the conversations we started at CONVERGE Louisville at next year’s conference and beyond. The event served as a useful catalyst to connect, innovate, invest, communicate and replicate best-in-care practices for every member of our community.

-Phil Marshall is the Health Enterprises Network Board Chair and CEO of Hosparus Health.