Taking a Conference from Good to Great

Why diverse participants matter

Last week, I attended a retreat by Xx in Health and it was simply — despite my fears of networking, uncertainty over why I was there, and general antipathy towards “women’s” events in general — an awesome experience. The speakers were top-notch, the discussions were high-level, and most importantly, I met a lot of lovely women that I would not have met otherwise who were as passionate about changing healthcare as I was.

I have been to a lot of conferences that are trying to do the same thing: change healthcare by bringing people together that are changing the world. What made Xx in Health different? Was it the mimosas they gave us at the beginning? Was it the gorgeous venue? Was it really the quality of the speakers?

While great speakers and the planning committee’s seemingly tireless attention to detail unquestionably improved my conference experience, I feel that what made Xx in Health great is related to something our one XY Speaker said during his keynote: you need diversity to make a great team. More importantly, you need a team that includes people that your product is going to serve. Otherwise, you will constantly be running the risk of being out-of-touch with the reality that the community is facing.

In healthcare, where there are dozens of stakeholders whose interests are not all perfectly aligned, from patients to providers to insurance companies to city/state/federal governments, no one person or even group of people truly encompasses the scope of healthcare. Certainly in designing a product, people can and should focus on certain market segments, but when we’re talking about the sticky, tricky problem of transforming the industry, we need to engage all stakeholders at all levels in a deep and meaningful way.

That is what made the discussions at the tables and the overall level of discussion at the conference so great. Obviously there was a bit of a self-selection effect — where people who signed up to attend such a cross-industry event are those who were already doing their best to listen to people from all walks of healthcare — but even the most open-minded physician is still just one physician. She does not have the perspective of someone who has worked in the health insurance industry for many decades. It’s only by bringing these people together at events like Xx in Health that we will really be able to transform the healthcare system.