Join us for KHC’s 8th Annual Conference in person for the first time in two years at The Olmsted in Louisville, Kentucky on April 12 and 13. You’ll learn from national leaders, innovators, and disrupters as they map out the future of healthcare to achieve high quality, affordable, and equitable care.
So much in healthcare has changed, yet much has not. What hasn’t changed is the need to address and take action on multiple issues facing our healthcare system. After two virtual conferences we are set to once again gather face to face, with COVID-19 safety guidelines. In 2020, our first virtual conference, we focused on humanizing healthcare and on improving the delivery system to better address the needs of consumers. The challenges discussed in 2020 were amplified by the impact of the pandemic. The pandemic forced a fast-tracked virtual healthcare delivery system and encouraged us to reach patients where they are on a more personalized basis. The pandemic also highlighted the disparity in healthcare as the pandemic affected people of color, of lower economic status, and in rural neighborhoods much more significantly. Today, we still need to focus on providing quality, affordable, and equitable healthcare to our communities in Louisville, Southern Indiana, and throughout Kentucky.
So here we are two years later. The pandemic has taught us a great deal – both positive and negative – about our healthcare system. At the KHC 2022 Annual Conference we are looking to transition from learnings and theory to practical application and action. We plan to look to the future while revisiting some not-so-new discussions with a new lens. The Quest for Value and Equity: Mapping the Future of Healthcare features national leaders, innovators, and disrupters as they share not just what they’ve learned but steps we can take to move the healthcare industry forward to meet the needs of all people.
We’ll kick off the event with an opportunity to network and reconnect on Tuesday, April 12 with a reception at The Olmsted from 5 to 7 p.m.
The next morning we’ll begin our day-long session with our morning keynote speaker, Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. For 20 years, The Leapfrog Group has focused on patient safety, quality, and transparency. Many consumers and healthcare stakeholders are familiar with Leapfrog’s Hospital Safety reports. The KHC was recognized last year as a Leapfrog Regional Leader, to assist in Leapfrog’s boots-on-the-ground efforts to advance participation in Leapfrog surveys. Leah will set the stage for the rest of the day and look ahead to the future of healthcare – where we’re going, where we need to go, and what we need to focus on to get there. She is a regular contributor to Forbes.com and other top tier publications. She has been named on Becker’s list of the 50 most powerful people in healthcare, and consistently cited by Modern Healthcare among the 100 most influential people and top 25 women in healthcare.
We’ll also hear from local employers and healthcare leaders on the primary care crisis facing the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We’ll discuss the current lack of access to primary care and hear from an employer that has taken steps to address and solve the access issue for its employees and their families.
After lunch, the afternoon keynote speaker will kick off the afternoon’s focus on the maternal healthcare crisis in our country and in Kentucky. Charles Johnson, founder of the non-profit organization 4Kira4Moms, will share his personal and profound story of loss that exemplifies the tragic conditions of giving birth in America, especially for people of color. 4Kira4Moms was founded with the mission to advocate for improved maternal health policies and regulations, to educate the public about the impact of maternal mortality in communities, provide peer support to the victim’s family and friends, and to promote the idea that maternal mortality should be viewed and discussed as a human rights issue.
The keynote presentation will be followed by a panel of experts who are also taking action to deliver quality and equitable maternal care in our communities. We will hear from the University of Louisville’s Commonwealth Institute of Kentucky on the Maternal Mortality Brief released this month that revealed many data points, including the fact that in 2017, 78% of maternal deaths in Kentucky were identified as preventable, compared to 60% at the national level. The report also shares steps that are being taken to address maternal mortality across Kentucky. We’ll also learn about a doula pilot underway through Norton Healthcare and others working to resolve inequities in maternal care in our Commonwealth.
We’ll end the day looking at how including equity factors in healthcare data can help us see where and how race and social determinants of health such as income, neighborhoods where people live, education access and quality impact healthcare utilization and controlling disease states. We’ll talk through what data needs to be viewed along with value benefit designs that can be used to move toward positive change in accessing and appropriately utilizing healthcare.
We are excited to not only be in person, but to have the chance to discuss and leave with the knowledge and action steps to make changes in our healthcare system that move us to increased quality, affordability, and equity. I look forward to seeing many KHC members and Kentuckiana community leaders at this event. It takes all of us working together to make a difference.
