Reimagining the Role of the Healthcare Association

Program Rationale

 In early 2023, a multidisciplinary group of healthcare CEOs and senior strategy staff contributed to research identifying critical changes in the healthcare environment and changing strategic assumptions that profoundly impacted healthcare association members and their needs. 

Consider the following.

 • Disruption of historical behaviors and business models.

COVID-19 impacted healthcare in ways that will be experienced for decades. There will be noticeable tangible changes, such as modified hospital check-in protocols or expansions in remote medicine. There will also be less apparent changes, for example, potential building code changes impacting ventilation capacity or wastewater testing to identify and localize distinct health issues. But in many cases, the pandemic accelerated many disruptions that were already in progress. To be relevant, healthcare associations must identify, monitor, and adapt to the impact of these disruptions on their members and business models.

• Disruption in the culture of care.

The healthcare sector is populated by people from different generations who have undergone additional training and organizational experiences. These individuals, with their different perspectives, are dealing with the following. While trust in clinicians remains high, public confidence in healthcare institutions is eroded. In addition, clinicians increasingly view careers in healthcare as vocational instead of a personal calling. These perspectives influence leadership priorities and resource allocation within healthcare institutions and professions. Increasingly, these conversations will occur in a transparent, asynchronous, and dynamic communication environment characterized by a high volume of information and misinformation.

• Disruption in the organization of care.

The healthcare workforce is becoming more centralized and may face increasing interdisciplinary competition from value-based practice models. Combined with the focus on healthcare outcomes and access to emerging educational and training modalities, these forces may substantially disrupt the training and educational needs and pathways for clinicians and other healthcare professionals.

• Disruption in the provision of care.

Complex vertically and horizontally integrated organizations will increasingly manage healthcare. These organizations must navigate a broad spectrum of stakeholder concerns, from investors and payors to employees and patients. The incentives and disincentives facing these institutions may result in misallocating resources and more fragmented and bureaucratic care not optimized for patients or clinicians. 

Program Description

The 2^nd Annual Reimagining the Future of the Healthcare Association provides a data-driven, collaborative, and multi-disciplinary environment for healthcare association CEOs, their senior management teams, and critical healthcare volunteer leaders to discuss how healthcare associations must adapt to succeed.

Emerging Strategic Roles  - What are current and emerging roles for healthcare associations as platforms for member and Mission success that produce real impact?

Modern healthcare associations are no longer limited to traditional research, education,  or advocacy roles. Innovative healthcare association leaders are now exploring new roles. Roles that expose members to emerging technologies or treatments. Roles that aggregate the power of members to influence a broader range of critical stakeholders directly. Roles that create a more compelling story for members to hear, tell, and engage with.

This component of the program will introduce you to current and emerging roles and allow you to discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and opportunities of these roles for your association.

Strategic Portfolio Development: How do current and new strategic roles translate into a compelling healthcare association’s product/service portfolio?

Evolving strategic roles will require product/service innovation. These new products or services must be integrated into a strategic whole to succeed in the face of competition. Where does the rubber meet the road, from membership and publications to advocacy or global outreach?

This component explores the evolving association product/service portfolio. Participants will assess and discuss additions to and deletions from the traditional strategic portfolio. Discussions will focus on crafting a compelling framework to encourage professional engagement, support sustainable operations, and maximize Mission-based impact.

• Strategic Governance Change: How do association leaders successfully lead strategic governance change that helps volunteer leaders understand and support business model innovation?

New roles and modern strategic portfolios will require association leaders to create and sustain strategic change successfully. Critical will be diagnosing the association's current state, creating a compelling message for change, and leading volunteer leaders and staff through a challenging transition.

This component of the program, based on the Association Laboratory white paper, Leading Strategic Change in Associations, will give participants peer-based guidance on how to apply the lessons from Reimagining the Future of the Healthcare Association to their association.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Emerging Strategic Roles  -  -  What are current and emerging roles for healthcare associations as platforms for member and Mission success that produce real impact? 

2. Strategic Portfolio Development: How do current and new strategic roles translate into a compelling healthcare association’s product/service portfolio? 

3. Strategic Governance Change: How do association leaders successfully lead strategic governance change that helps volunteer leaders understand and support business model innovation?

Instructional Design:

• Pre-event: Research-based Dialog – Participants will provide their thoughts on essential questions before the event, and this research will set the stage for onsite discussions, allowing participants to have a productive, in-depth, and data-driven conversation with peers.

• During the Event: Collaborative Peer Exchange – Participants will collaborate onsite with small and large group discussions to prioritize the issues, assess the implications, and create potential solutions for future consideration at your association. Speakers from Association Laboratory will facilitate the conversation. See agenda.

• After the Event: Continued Conversation - Participants will receive a custom whitepaper capturing the event's conclusions and a discussion guide and presentation materials to help continue discussions at each association. 
• Looking Forward Dashboard - Participants will receive complimentary access to Association Laboratory’s sector research via the Looking Forward Dashboard.