16th Annual Healthcare Conference at Harvard Business School: Back to the Future of Healthcare

Nandish Shah, MD

Resident in Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

PGY 4

March 26, 2019

As doctors, we often focus on what’s right in front of us--the patient, the patient’s chart, the labs, the imaging. We pride ourselves in figuring out the case and moving on to the next one. Long days blur and we ease into the humdrum. This conference was the metaphorical ‘deep breath,’ a time to take a step back and think about the big picture. No call, no pager, no ANCRs. When again am I going to hear a keynote speech by the CEO of United Healthcare? What made this conference great was its focus on the future of healthcare and the role technology will play in it. There was a panel session on redesigning payment models and one on digit health solutions in underserved populations around the world. Others included digital health improvements in the patient health experience as well as in meeting mental health needs. In a multi-trillion-dollar sector, clearly there are key players besides doctors. It was nice to hear and meet people from various backgrounds working to improve healthcare.

My favorite talk during the conference was one given by Kate Walsh, the CEO of Boston Medical Center (BMC). She talked about social determinants of health, how BMC has worked to increase access to affordable housing, and the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts among other things. But the slide that stood out to me was an illustration differentiating “equality” from “equity” from “true equity.” Basically, “equality” gives everyone the same start no matter the barriers they face. “Equity” involves addressing the gaps in care so that those with little can reach those with more. But “true equity,” something that she envisions for BMC and healthcare overall, involves addressing the structural barriers that led to the inequality in the first place. By the way, this is not a new graphic and a quick search will yield a picture that will explain it much better than my attempt. Regardless, the message is clear: improving health outcomes will depend on our ability to change the underlying socioeconomic inequalities that pertain to healthcare.

While I do have to go back to the dim lights of the radiology reading room, I am excited to carry the lessons from this conference forward. As doctors, we have an incredibly important role in the direction of healthcare, one that is unique for each specialty. For radiologists, improving health outcomes may involve better access to breast and lung cancer screening among other things. Or AI algorithms to determine public health outcomes on imaging, such as osteoporosis and fracture risk based on the density of the spine on a CT of the abdomen and pelvis.

For future trainees: Meet people! Network. Many people besides attendings can open doors in your professional career. We are not the only ones on the dance floor. Maybe tango with the MBA, MPH, or the software engineer.