Focus. Influence. Simplify.

The 20th annual In-Value-Able Conference & Expo is designed to inspire innovation, forge connections and share new perspectives to inform your organization’s health benefits strategies.

The average person has more conversations with ‘bots' than their spouses. More than 50% of the world’s population is younger than 30 years old. Today’s college students never licked a postage stamp. Ninety-three percent of buying decisions are influenced by social media. Our human attention span is 8 seconds, about the same as a goldfish. Oh, and people will soon trust Amazon more than their bank.

In an ever-changing world of all things digital, this is life. It’s not the future, it’s now. And as employers, we can leverage technology to focus, influence, and simplify, the theme of 2024 In-Value-Able Conference and Expo, which is celebrating 20 years.

Keynote Speaker Erik Qualman shared this digital reality to kick off the January 25 virtual day of our conference, which continues in person February 20 and 21 at Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. “Data can help deliver the right care at the right time,” he said. “Analyzing patient data saves 20% more lives and saves up to $450 billion.”

How could AI reduce rising pharmacy costs, and what benefits could machine learning bring to helping patients determine the right place to get care they can afford?

The benefits conversation is an innovation discussion that factors in technology, intelligence, problem-solving, future-proofing—all of the ingredients for business and life success apply to the employee benefits equation. Qualman says “focus” is the difference between winners and losers in a digitally distracted society, and when we focus on metrics that matter, we empower better decision-making. This is an important take-away all the time, and particularly amid benefits planning.

Qualman is a professor of Digital Leadership at Northwestern University and former sitting professor at MIT and Harvard edX labs. The Forbes Top Influencer reminds us to “become disrupters rather than be disrupted," and that innovation done right is “subtractive” and can remove friction and simplify.

Qualman also asks a question that we always encourage members to consider: What’s your story? In the benefits arena, we’re talking about telling the “health story” of your population, from chronic illnesses to stressors, wellness habits and access to care. This helps inform smart benefits strategies.

The In-Value-Able Conference and Expo also pushes boundaries by asking questions such as: What will healthcare look like in 10 years? How can we prepare for the new healthcare landscape, and what are the best and worst aspects of the next-generation system that we should understand? February 20th Keynote Speaker Marty Makary will hash through how we can prepare for upcoming changes, manage concerning trends and address benefits in a common-sense way.

Makary served in leadership at the World Health Organization and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. The professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine leads an initiative on the “re-design on health care” to make care more reliable, appropriate and affordable.

Serial entrepreneur Peter Hinssen will deliver a keynote February 21 centered on his latest book, The Day After Tomorrow. He says Unicorn Startups are brilliant. But most of us work in large companies that struggle to stay relevant. Instead, aspire to be a Phoenix and reimagine your business in cycles, rising up from the old into new, stronger, smarter, more competitive organizations.

When living in a world of constant change, how can we act on the “day after tomorrow” and leverage innovation as an antidote? Hinssen emphasizes the necessity of making innovation a part of your company and health benefits culture.

New this year, we’re frontloading the conference with engaging employer roundtables that invite members to connect, share knowledge and build a growing web of support for each other so we can innovate and change together. Because as our thought-provoking conference emphasizes, successful organizations are forward-thinking and embrace disruption—digital and otherwise—as an opportunity to compete and thrive.

About Health Action Council 
Health Action Council is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) organization representing mid-and large-size employers that enhance human and economic health through thought leadership, innovative services, and collaboration. It provides value to its members by facilitating projects that improve the quality and moderate the cost of healthcare purchased by its members for their employees, dependents, and retirees. Health Action Council also collaborates with key stakeholders – health plans, physicians, hospitals, and the pharmaceutical industry – to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare in the community.