The Health Management Academy is a hidden gem. For years they have been bringing together leaders from healthcare providers and industry innovators in small group meetings. The smaller event format makes it easier to share ideas, exchange best practices, and transfer knowledge. The Academy now runs 65+ focused meetings each year and operates a Center for Transformation to help its clients.
Healthcare IT Today had the rare opportunity to sit down with Renee DeSilva, Chief Executive Officer at The Health Management Academy (THMA). We wanted to learn more about the work THMA is doing, what their plans are for the next 12 months, and what trends they are hearing + seeing from their clients.
Listening to Healthcare Leaders
“A big part of what The Health Management Academy does is we listen,” explained DeSilva. “We have about 65 live events a year and over 2,000 executives flowing through our doors. We listen and then we curate what we hear and turn it into insights that the rest of the industry can use.”
A good example of this shared insight came earlier this year when THMA published an article summarizing their findings on technology investment by leading health systems. By listening to its clients, THMA found that “90% of systems would be increasing their healthcare technology investment over 2022”.
What were those systems looking for? Technology partners who:
- Would not increase up labor cost
- Would reduce burnout or frustration
- Understand current business practices and data/reporting needs
- Have realistic implementation timelines and a willingness to provide prolonged support to ensure successful installation
Most interesting was their finding that the investment in technology would come from the IT budget and surprisingly the Marketing budget.
Current Healthcare Issues
Given THMA’s access to providers and solution vendors, they see and hear the current issues healthcare leaders are concerned about. Based on numerous conversations with IT leaders – CIOs, CMIOs, VPs of IT, etc – the THMA team identified three current issues:
- How the organization will be impacted by artificial intelligence (AI)
- What processes should be automated and which should not
- How to protect against cyber attacks
“A lot of leaders were thinking about how to best integrate a human and technology dyad model of care,” said DeSilva. “This means answering tough questions around what should be automated and what shouldn’t be.”
Future Plans for THMA
Over the next twelve months, DeSilva’s team will be collaborating with Microsoft and Nuance. Through THMA’s AI Collaborative, leaders from different functional areas like HR, finance, clinical, and operations, will be brought together to chart a sustainable path for AI and advanced analytics in healthcare.
THMA will also be collaborating with AWS to create a new leadership development program for rising technology leaders in healthcare. Together they will be delivering courses and other learning modules that will arm these individuals with the skills they need in the years ahead.
“I’m also getting my roller bag ready,” shared DeSilva. “We have over 60 events that we will be hosting through the rest of 2023.”
A Hidden Gem
One of the most exciting things about working in healthcare is that I’m constantly learning new things and discovering new companies. THMA is an example of that.
I mistakenly thought I had a fair handle on all the major events and conferences in healthcare…but I had never heard of THMA. The more I learned about the organization prior to the interview with DeSilva, the more excited I became. Like us, here was an organization dedicated to improving healthcare by bringing different parts of the ecosystem together. They are truly a hidden gem.
Watch the interview with Renee DeSilva to learn:
- Why in the near future healthcare organizations will need to move beyond the digital front door into a completely digital house
- Why reducing costs of care for employers will be important over the next five years
- What’s on Season 3 of THMA’s “The Table” podcast
Learn more about The Health Management Academy at: https://hmacademy.com/
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