While most industries embrace innovation, it can lead to an increase in the cost of health care, according to a co-chair of this year’s Business of Healthcare Conference, happening at the Haas School on Saturday, March 12.
"Our aim is to explore the role of innovation in today's tough economic, regulatory, and political environment and to discuss whether innovation can, in fact, play a role in containing runaway spending," says Rutvik Mehta, MBA 11, who is co-chairing the conference with fellow second-year student Irene de Castro Blanco. The conference, presented by the Haas Healthcare Association, will share perspectives on access, delivery, and development.
Kimberly Belshé, former secretary of California’s Health and Human Services Agency, and Kent Lieginger, Genentech senior vice president of Managed Care and Customer Operations, will deliver the keynote addresses. Belshé became a member of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cabinet in 2003 and was his chief adviser on health, social services, and rehabilitative policies. She was responsible for providing leadership and oversight of the Health and Human Services Agency's efforts to promote the health and well being of the people of California.
Lieginger heads Genentech’s Managed Care and Customer Operations Department, which includes more than 760 employees and 135 contractors dedicated to ensuring that patients have access to Genentech science. With 25 years in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, Lieginger has held a variety of leadership roles in managed care, U.S. and global business development, finance, strategic contracting, manufacturing, marketing, and sales.
Additional featured speakers include Scott Stropkay, founder of Essential Design, and Bryce Williams, director of Blue Shield’s employee health initiative, Wellvolution. Panel discussions will also explore the role of innovation in health care, with such topics as realizing the potential of genetic testing, technology’s role in improving rural health care access, and overcoming barriers to medical device innovation.
For more information, go to the Business of Healthcare Conference website.