The Harvard Business School Healthcare Alumni Association (HBSHAA) recently held its 21st Annual Conference virtually on November 5th and 6th. Colleen McGuire, HBS alumna and Co-Founder and CEO of Silver Fern Healthcare, was invited to the event to facilitate a roundtable discussion entitled “Chronic Disease Prevention, Treatment and Management”. During the session, Colleen led a discussion about the importance of lifestyle-based strategies for treating and managing chronic diseases. She described how our current approach to treating conditions such as diabetes or hypertension primarily uses pharmaceutical and surgical interventions which fail to focus on prevention or to address the root causes of these largely preventable diseases, leading to high costs and poor patient outcomes. Participants in the roundtable also discussed the role of VC funding in helping the healthcare industry shift its focus away from expensive medical procedures and pharmaceuticals for treating chronic disease. Only 1% of venture capital investments since 1990 have been directed toward solutions that address lifestyle-related factors, despite 60 percent of individual health outcomes being driven by them.
The conference as a whole focused on how industry leaders can effectively strategize during uncertain times. Experts shared perspectives on the impact of COVID-19, election uncertainty, and market volatility on the healthcare industry.
“This year’s conference had a healthy mix of big players from various parts of the healthcare industry,” explained McGuire. “Leaders from pharmaceuticals, major hospital networks, policy institutions, and preventative health, all came together to create solutions to complex problems. It was important that we not only identify these issues –health inequities, care delivery, mental health, and others – but also figure out a plan to do something about it. It was a pleasure paneling with fellow industry leaders and speaking with other alumni from around the world during the conference. HBS consistently brings together the brightest minds with global reach to tackle some of the most pressing issues we face today.”
The conference featured sessions led by other healthcare experts, including Nicki MacManus, Vice President of Transformation at CVS Health; Robert Garret, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health; and Laura Veroneau, Partner at Optum Ventures.
Colleen is an alumna of the Harvard Business School and a current member of the Healthcare Alumni Association. She was invited to panel at the conference because of her 30+ years of business leadership and her commitment to value-based healthcare.
To learn more about the Harvard Business School Healthcare Alumni Association and the 21st Annual Conference, please visit the website.