Each year, Medical News talks with healthcare leaders from across the Commonwealth to get their perspective on the changing landscape of healthcare.  This year, we focused on the organizations that help bring together many different aspects of the healthcare community.

Specifically, we interviewed the healthcare professionals who lead industry groups and trade associations.  Their insights, both from the professional roles as well as leadership within their organization, help give us a better understanding of the work that goes on behind the scenes to make our industry tick.

Common Themes

With so many different industry groups represented, the responses were varied, but there were a few consistent themes.  The first theme was, of course, is the desire for healthcare professionals to focus on delivering healthcare.

As the environment continues to change, many healthcare professionals are asked to do more and more administrative tasks, taking them away from direct patient care.  Most leaders commended efforts to reduce “red tape” and other administrative burdens, but still see plenty of opportunity to continue to improve on this front.

Another common topic was the healthcare environment itself.  From consolidations and mergers, to the incentives and reimbursement models, most leaders talked about the impacts the changing environment has on the way they deliver care.  While change is inevitable, it also highlights the important role these associations have in helping their members continue to thrive (or survive) in today’s healthcare sector.

Social determinants of health are also a hot topic this year, with a focus on improving the health outcomes for the community, not just the individual.  Most leaders continue to point to data that indicate that groups of people that have less access to resources like healthy food, consistent housing and transportation automatically have higher risks of poor health outcomes.  Most providers mentioned the need to work together to build coalitions to help address these concerns to improve the overall health of the community. Meet the leaders:

Terry Skaggs

Bruce Scott, MD

Liz Fowler

Ruth Carrico, PhD

David Henley

Molly Rutherford, MD

Dean Windsor