STEMconnector® held an all-day STEMHealth’s forum on July 23 at the National Press Club in Washington DC. The forum which was entitled “Moving at the speed of Health Care: Intersection of Health Care and the Health Care Workforce,” brought together dozens of professionals healthcare CEO and president, leading health policy experts, current and former government officials, and well-versed pharmaceutical industry scholars, for a national discussion on the future of healthcare delivery and the emerging of healthcare workforce.

“Moving at the speed of health Care is the best title to capture the kind of conversation we need to have about the future,” said Michelle Washko, deputy director of National Center on HealthCare Workforce Analysis. 

The conversation, through five different panels, ranging from talking about the complexity of moving at the speed of health care, the skills needed to ensure quality healthcare, the impact of information technology on healthcare to commit to society to provide safe and great health care, and the role of employers.

Michael Taylor, senior vice president of Aon Hewitt, argued the discussion on the role of employers needs to frame in the context of the population that they [employers] serve. He added that healthcare education should be a priority to employers. “If the system transforms it has to meet the needs,” Taylor said, “and employers have to say: the workforce’s [education] is the need.”

Taylor was one of the five panelists from the panel “Innovation and Delivery,” which explored the implication of the delivery system evolution as well as innovations being implemented and the associated change management and employee engagement requirements needed to ensure success.

Executive Director of Bellevue College Life Science Informatics Center, Patricia Dombrowski explained how it is critical to educate the workforce and reform the healthcare system as new advances in information and technology are emerging. She said that healthcare education is still the same like in the “Ages of Dinosaurs.”

The panelists discussed many other hot topics including the future of retail health, ensuring quality care in changing environment, and conversation on leadership.

To be continued…