HLTH has expanded—As the definition of health has expanded, so has the makeup of the players in the space, and as a result, HLTH attendees. Digital health is no longer the purview of startups and is no longer just about using desktop and mobile applications to support care. It is now about the full tech stack and vertically integrated care experience. Everyone is part of this ecosystem, from AWS to the startup doing culturally competent Medicaid primary care (in AWS’s healthcare accelerator)…
More diversity and focus on health equity—HLTH was much more diverse this year, in terms of attendees, panelists and the topics under discussion, but there is still room for improvement. Relatedly, there was a clear focus on cultural competency and the need to support health equity. My takeaway here is that this will be much of the work over the next few years—but the topic is now front and center, with multiple panels and discussions to help us move forward in this space.
Overall, HLTH this year felt like a step forward, in terms of where people focused, the diversity of topics and attendees and the commitment to patient-first care…
