MCRA 2016 – Kimpton Hotel Monaco, Philadelphia

MCRA’s 20th annual meeting started Monday evening in the Stratus Rooftop Lounge at the Philadelphia Hotel Monaco with our opening reception.

Tuesday morning kicked off with our opening speaker, David Smith, Chief Development Officer with Leavitt Partners Consulting. He shared with us the electoral, policy and market drivers of our evolving health landscape. Some key items discussed included how providers will continue to transition from fee-for-service to value-based models; bundled payments and centers of excellence will transform the post-acute care market; market pressures will drive continued provider consolidation; payers will differentiate themselves based on the ability to engage consumers on their health; and increasing drug prices will likely prompt additional statutory and regulatory intervention.

Next we learned the ins and outs of clinical trials from Melinda Baxter, Health Services Consultant with RGA’s ROSE® Program, including the types of clinical trials, investigational new drugs, and the ethics involved.

Natalie Ellertson, VP Clinical Improvement Programming with Optum, and Deanna Mills, Program Director with FUHN (Federally Qualified Health Center Urban Health Network), shared with us the lessons from a provider’s transformation to Medicaid risk-bearing contracts.

Attendees enjoyed a delicious lunch together, served by Hotel Monaco.

The afternoon included a presentation by Robert Field, author and Professor of Health Management and Policy at Drexel University. Dr. Field shared where things are with The Affordable Care Act (ACA): uninsured rate down to 9%; millions more Americans have insurance; and state insurance exchanges have sicker risk pools, premium increases, and insurers are exiting the market. He doesn’t see the ACA going away due to corporate interests, consumer interests, plus its effects on other programs such as Medicare and ACOs. He also shared his post-election predictions!

Tuesday’s final speaker was Dr. Marty Makary, Johns Hopkins surgeon, author and TV commentator. Dr. Makary shared information on America’s health care transparency revolution. Great discussions on number of deaths in U.S. hospitals due to medical mistakes; unnecessary medical care; hospital readmission rates; surgery complications, and more.

Our Gold Sponsors treated us to an event at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, which included drinks, appetizers and an optional tour of the Mütter Museum, a museum of medical history.

Wednesday morning started with a panel discussion on the ACA and its impact on our industry. A panel of underwriters and actuaries from Munich, SCOR, Summit Re, RGA and PartnerRe shared their experiences with state Exchange business, Medicaid Expansion, and other ACA impacts.

Susan Faust, VP of Payor Strategies with Diplomat, gave us information on how to manage specialty spend from both the perspective of pharmacy and medical, such as prior authorizations, formulary management and site-of-care optimization.

Our final speaker of the day hit on a topic that is important to all companies in the insurance industry: how do we bring new talent to our door. Abbe Sodikoff, SVP and Health Sales Manager with The Jacobson Group stated 25% of industry employees will be nearing retirement by 2018, with approximately 400,000 insurance positions needing to be filled by 2020. She gave us tips for engaging and recruiting the next generations – Millennials and Generation Z.