Top 7 Takeaways from AHIP 2024: Why You Should Care
By Steve Ambrose, Director, Thought Leadership , Lyric
The AHIP 2024 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada drew together leaders, industry luminaries, and professionals across the payer and health tech segments. With a rich array of speakers, panels, and exhibitions, the three-day event provided an engaging and well-coordinated venue, setting the stage for meaningful discussions, valuable insights, and practical strategies.
Here are the seven top takeaways from AHIP 2024 that health plan leaders and professionals should heed.
#1 — Embracing Radical Candor on Systemic Transformation
One of the most striking aspects of this year’s AHIP was the level of radical candor displayed by panelists. They took on real and widely felt challenges facing the healthcare industry, including rising care costs, payer-provider friction, and the increasing burden of chronic disease. Also heavily touched upon were much-needed changes in public health infrastructure, building better bridges through payer-provider collaboration, as well as the responsible and ethical use of AI.
Most refreshing was when panelists didn’t always agree with one another. In several sessions, polite pushbacks created fresh side discussions and new perspectives. During the panel "Reimaging American Health Care," Dr. Sachin Jain, CEO of SCAN Group & Health Plan emphasized, “We have to quit normalizing the abnormal.” He urged healthcare organizations to move beyond patchwork solutions and address systemic issues directly. Jain stressed the need for stronger levels of innovation in areas like risk adjustment, utilization management, and STAR ratings. He also called for healthcare organizations to become "better employers" for their staff, highlighting the link between employee satisfaction and patient care quality.
Andrea Walsh, CEO of HealthPartners, emphasized the importance of rebuilding trust as an industry. She cited a recent Edelman Trust Barometer report that highlighted a troubling lack of public confidence, with only 39% trusting business leaders and a surprisingly low 37% believing that technology will positively impact healthcare. Dan Mendelson of Morgan Health brought a consumer and employer-centric perspective, advocating for better care navigation, improved analytics, and enhanced integration of primary care. Mendelson emphasized that more leadership from health plans is essential to bring these tools and improved capabilities into play.
Dan Mendelson of Morgan Health brought a consumer and employer-centric perspective, advocating for better care navigation, improved analytics, and enhanced integration of primary care. Mendelson emphasized that more leadership from health plans is essential to bring these tools and improved capabilities into play.
#2 — Accelerating the Shift to Value-Based Care
The transition to value-based care (VBC) was a central theme at AHIP 2024, with leaders sharing strategies to enhance quality measurement methodologies, improve member satisfaction, and better care outcomes. Discussions on value-based specialty care (VBSC) were particularly insightful, given specialists’ significant share of total healthcare spending.
A standout session featured chief health management officer Alicia Berkemeyer of Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield and performance & measurement expert Dr. Mark Friedberg of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Berkemeyer discussed her state's collaborative approach to VBC. This includes regular meetings between state-based professionals across Medicare, Medicaid, providers, and payers—regularly meeting in the same room! These meetings serve to foster a collaborative environment where stakeholders work together to focus on improving results for care outcomes and costs.
Dr. Friedberg highlighted the integration of health equity measures into value-based agreements, such as BCBSMA’s Alternative Quality Contract (AQC) plan, emphasizing comprehensive stakeholder engagement.
In a separate session, Jeremy Wigginton, M.D., of Capital Blue Cross, pointed out the differing perspectives on value among patients, providers, and employers. Particularly with patients aligning value to satisfaction and access; and providers linking it to sustained revenue. Dr. Wigginton also stressed the importance of plans to gain buy-in from providers before implementing a VBC program; especially as many providers may currently be participating in a plethora of existing programs with differing value-linked metrics and pathways.
#3 — Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) was a key focus at AHIP 2024, with discussions centered on its transformational potential to improve personalization of whole health, identify high-risk members, improve care access, reframe many aspects of mental health care, as well as reduce friction between plans with their members and providers. Other discussions included responsible AI deployment and governance; as well as clarifying differences between AI and generative AI—and the different ways they could each be deployed within healthcare organizations.
Dr. Charles DeShazer of Cigna emphasized the need to "go slow to go fast" with AI adoption. He noted that AI integration must be closely monitored, especially given existing challenges in perception and trust from members and providers. He also shared an ambitious three-year look forward where we may well see the emergence of digital twins of plan members, utilizing social determinants of health (SDoH) and other powerful forms of integrated data—with ambient listening capabilities of AI—for appropriate intervention and learning.
On the panel with DeShazer was Elevance’s Chief Clinical Digital Officer Vardini Vishwanathan, who sees AI eventually being able to drive more personalized care plans; and helping to further strengthen future payer-provider relationships.
In a separate panel, attendees witnessed a highly anticipated conversation between Microsoft’s Dr. David Rhew, AmeriHealth Caritas’ Neil Gomes, AHIP’s Danielle Lloyd, and Miriam Vogel, CEO of EqualAI and Chair of the National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC). In discussing best practices for AI governance, Dr. Rhew spoke about Microsoft’s creation of their AI governance initiative group called Trustworthy & Responsible AI Network (TRAIN). He also cited the importance for eventually democratizing AI for institutions, leading to a greater ease of its use.
Gomes highlighted the importance of the current challenge in AI literacy and related policy development. He also emphasized the importance of getting ‘other industries’ to recognize the importance and value of AI in healthcare. Gomes also chimed in on cyber management sharing, “the worst thing we can do is to be paralyzed by our current cyber threat challenges.” He further cited needs around building robust AI policies as well as the importance of finding the right talent to leverage AI effectively.
Vogel, who leads the NAIAC, a Congressionally appointed committee that reports AI-related recommendations directly to President Biden’s office, emphasized the importance of engagement and best practices in AI governance. She strongly advocated for the benefits inherent with implementing NIST’s AI risk management framework. Highlighting the need for clearer documentation and accountability, she stated, “the more stakeholders that participate in AI design and lifecycle, the better it is.”
#4 — Modernizing Public Health Infrastructure
Modernizing public health infrastructure was a core theme at AHIP 2024, with speakers emphasizing the need for stronger collaboration between healthcare providers and public health entities. Mandy Cohen, director of the CDC, highlighted the importance of breaking down silos to achieve common goals, stating, “payers are critical partners” and describing the effort as a “team sport.”
Cohen, who led North Carolina’s HHS during the COVID-19 pandemic, stressed that both health plans and public health professionals aim to ensure better health outcomes and improve lives. She underscored the necessity of fostering data interoperability to identify and respond to health threats promptly, advising, “Continue to encourage the systems that you invest in to make sure they’re building data systems that are interoperable.”
Bechara Choucair, executive vice president and chief health officer of Kaiser Permanente, reflected on the lessons learned from COVID-19. Emphasizing the importance of maintaining the collaborative bridges built during the pandemic, he noted how the experience provided him with “the opportunity to see how effective we can be when those bridges between public health and health care are present and are strengthened.”
This panel discussion underscores the reality that modernizing public health infrastructure will only get better through sustained cooperation, data interoperability, and proactive strategies. By maintaining collaborative efforts, initiated during the pandemic, private system stakeholders and public health can continue to improve health outcomes and safeguard public well-being.
#5 — Advancing Health Equity
Health equity was front and center at the conference, with session speakers addressing the importance of making prescription drugs affordable and accessible; as well as improving behavioral health care for children and adolescents. The discussions underscored the need for standardized data collection and reporting to build a more equitable healthcare system.
AHIP Chief Health Equity Officer Dr. LaShawn McIver highlighted the industry’s growing toolkit for addressing health disparities. “Although there are still many challenges we are facing as a system, we have never been more equipped to tackle them than at this moment,” she noted. McIver emphasized that through a lens of health equity, the healthcare system is developing tools to help each person achieve their highest level of health and well-being.
Sessions discussed strategies to enhance equity and outcomes in behavioral health, emphasizing the importance of improving access and addressing disparities. The discussions also touched on CMS’s efforts to improve data collection and standardized reporting, which are essential for building a more equitable future in healthcare. AHIP itself has an industrywide strategy to help stakeholders “mobilize around specific, actionable goals” when it comes to promoting health equity.
#6 — Enhancing Consumer Experience and Digital Health
Digital health and consumer experience was explored in depth at the conference. Related sessions focused on leveraging omnichannel strategies and next-gen technology to improve health equity, care outcomes, and to strengthen member engagement.
Stacy Byers, Senior Vice President of Experience, Design & Digital at Highmark Health and Harkan Kardes, Chief Experience Officer of Alignment Health joined CX expert and coach Ingrid Lindberg in discussing how digital tools can prioritize customer experience (CX) initiatives, leading to increased member loyalty and better health outcomes.
In a separate panel discussion, Dr. Reed Tuckson, former EVP of UnitedHealth Group, underscored the significance of positive interactions at every touchpoint in the healthcare journey. “Every single patient encounter MUST be a good one,” he implored, highlighting the critical role of consistent, high-quality interactions for achieving positive outcomes — beyond clinical encounters alone.
Cigna’s Chief Distribution Officer, Gary Culp and SCAN health plan’s president for Medicare, Karen Schulte shared innovative strategies for developing personalized insurance products. Culp shared Cigna’s "no wrong door" philosophy, as a principle in helping ensure their members have multiple pathways to access care, enhancing continuity and satisfaction. Culp then highlighted Cigna’s suite of supplemental programs, such as cancer, dental, and vision riders, designed to fill care gaps and provide continuity.
Schulte offered specific advice on conducting segmentation analysis to customize benefits. “It’s really about the data,” she emphasized. By deeply examining subsets of the population, health plans can gain a comprehensive understanding of their unique needs. Schulte advocated for analyzing this data through a health equity lens to tailor interventions and build trust with members. She highlighted SCAN's success in reducing medication disparities among Black and Hispanic members by 35% through cultural concordance and connecting members with pharmacists of similar backgrounds.
#7 — Fostering Collaboration Among Stakeholders
The importance of collaboration among health insurance providers, policymakers, and healthcare professionals was a recurring theme at AHIP 2024. Cooperative efforts have become a common theme for achieving common goals in healthcare and addressing the industry’s most pressing challenges.
Mary Langowski of Walgreens Boots Alliance discussed the role of retail clinics in healthcare delivery. She emphasized the potential for partnerships between payers and retail providers to enhance care accessibility and convenience. “Plans partnering with Walgreens is a natural win-win scenario for both parties,” she noted, underscoring the importance of creative and collaborative partnerships.
Langowski highlighted that retail and digital-of-retail often serve as the entry point for many members’ care journeys. She pointed out that a Medicare patient typically sees a Walgreen’s pharmacist as much as eight times more per year than their physician, illustrating the critical role of retail clinics in healthcare delivery.
By working together, she noted plans and retail providers can create highly effective care models that benefit both parties and, most importantly, the patients. This collaborative approach ensures that healthcare delivery is more accessible and convenient, meeting the evolving needs of patients.
There was also an especially interesting panel moderated by healthcare economist and trend weaver, Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, “Health Care 2030: Are We Consumers, CEOs, Health Citizens, or Castaways?” The forward-thinking discussion featured Don Antonucci, CEO of Providence Health Plan, Dr. David Rhew of Microsoft, and Dr. Marc Watkins, Chief Medical Officer at Kroger Health. They discussed four alternative future healthcare scenarios and their implications for the patient-person.
David Rhew highlighted the rapid improvements in AI and technology, predicting that AI could revolutionize healthcare accessibility. He envisioned applying AI across entire populations to identify at-risk individuals and engage them in their care. “We can look at large populations and make care more accessible through the power of AI,” he said.
Dr. Marc Watkins emphasized the need for seamless experiences in meeting customers “where the are.” He noted that healthcare providers must connect with patients on a personal and emotional level to build trust and improve adherence. Watkins predicted that by 2030, healthcare will see more state-level regulation and a greater likelihood on improving personalization and reducing friction in care.
Don Antonucci discussed the key challenges facing healthcare, including affordability, access, and equity. He highlighted the role of ambient technology in enhancing patient-provider interactions, enabling more personalized “eye-to-eye” encounter—driving up trust.
Within many other sessions at the event, the common thread of stronger payer-provider relationships and collaborative interactions loomed large. This type of stakeholder alignment seeks to create more positives within value-based care, shared data and analytics, improving care outcomes, unlocking value to drive down costs, as well as improving public health.
Conclusion
The AHIP 2024 Conference was a powerful testament to the transformative potential of open dialogue, innovation, and collaboration in healthcare. From the candid discussions on industry challenges to the forward-thinking strategies for AI and value-based care, the conference offered valuable insights for health plan leaders and professionals. As we move forward, embracing these takeaways will be crucial for driving meaningful change and improving healthcare outcomes for all.
By fostering collaboration, leveraging technology, and maintaining a relentless focus on equity and consumer experience, the healthcare industry can navigate its complexities and emerge stronger and more resilient.
About Lyric
Lyric, formerly ClaimsXten, is a leading AI healthcare technology company, committed to simplifying the business of care. Over 30 years of experience, dedicated, expert teams, and top technologies help deliver up to $14 billion of annual savings to our many loyal and valued customers—including 9 of the top 10 payers across the country. Lyric’s solutions leverage the power of machine learning, AI, and predictive analytics to empower health plan payers with pathways to increased accuracy and efficiency, while maximizing value and savings. Lyric is investing in AI driven technology to ease implementation and speed to value for customer savings, while offering enhanced and newly available solutions through internal product development and strategic partnerships, including recently announced partnerships with Concert Genetics, Autonomize AI, and now, Codoxo. Discover more at Lyric.ai.
