Year-End Reflections – December 2023
Dear ACHE of MA Members,
As I begin my second term as President, I’m more convinced than ever that our chapter – as well as ACHE as a whole – plays a crucial role in ushering in a new healthcare era in Massachusetts. We represent a diverse, multidisciplinary team, offering rich opportunities for learning, teaching, and mentoring within a network that spans all career stages, allowing us to energize our members to push forward the vast possibilities within healthcare.
The composition of our chapter is incredibly pertinent for today’s healthcare leaders who are integrating services, managing information, fostering community partnerships, encouraging clinical collaborations, and steering change. Over the past year, we’ve worked to provide a space for you to meet and work with other leading minds in healthcare to enhance access, affordability, and quality.
Our major effort this year was last month’s Healthcare Innovation Summit, which was a resounding success, drawing over 200 leaders from diverse healthcare sectors. The Summit showcased industry thought leaders and innovators who discussed cutting-edge technologies, emerging roles, and new business models poised to drive innovation, focusing on ARPA-H and Massachusetts’s pivotal role in advancing biomedical research.
ARPA-H Program Manager Dr. Darshak Sanghavi opened the event by outlining the agency’s strategy for fast-tracking funding for biomedical breakthroughs that promise significant health ecosystem benefits, focusing on health science futures, scalable solutions, proactive health, and resilient systems.
Keynote speaker Dr. Francis Frei, a Harvard Business School professor and best-selling author, presented the importance of swift action and team trust in resolving complex organizational issues based on her latest book, Move Fast and Fix Things: The Trusted Leader’s Guide to Solving Hard Problems.
A panel of healthcare innovators discussed the importance of transcending traditional collaboration barriers, a lesson highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. They emphasized the need for strategies to extend successful pilot programs to larger populations.
In a first for ACHE of MA, we held an “Un-Pitch Session” where early-stage healthcare startups presented their transformative technologies. The critical insight for entrepreneurs was the need for adequate resources to support clinical teams when implementing new solutions, and we’ve received such positive feedback from both the presenters and the audience that we’ll have to do this again soon!
The energy and direction from the Summit will propel our chapter forward into 2024. Initiatives for providers will commence in the new year, backed by a robust framework for statewide accessible, high-quality programs. We’ll continue diversifying our committees, enhancing the involvement of early careerists. You – our exceptionally talented members – will play a vital role in our engagement across the region’s healthcare ecosystem through programming, partnerships, and our digital presence.
I’m increasingly reliant on our remarkable ACHE of MA professional network and am truly inspired by our members’ dedication. I look forward to working with everyone in our chapter to reach new milestones in 2024.
I wish you all a healthy and joyful holiday season!
Ali Raja
President, ACHE of MA
