HIMSS revealed that HX360 is adding two speakers with national experience in healthcare issues who are not afraid of taking controversial positions.
Former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and former Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt will both speak as part of the HX360 Executive Program on Wednesday, March 2, the day after the Super Tuesday primaries.
Romney has a long history with healthcare transformation. In 2006, as governor of Massachusetts, he passed An Act Providing Access to Affordable, Quality, Accountable Health Care, a set of health insurance reform laws now known as Romneycare, which essentially covered all Massachusetts residents.
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When he ran as the Republican candidate in the 2012 presidential election, healthcare was a major issue, and Romney pledged to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010.
Romney is also a successful venture capital and private equity investor, having worked at Bain & Co. prior to serving as CEO of spin-off Bain Capital until 1999 when he took over the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
In speaking at a HIMSS conference, Romney joins the upper echelon of high-profile politicians to have done the same: former President George W. Bush keynoted HIMSS15 in Chicago, Hillary Clinton took the stage at HIMSS14 in Orlando just one year after husband and former President Bill Clinton addressed the crowd at HIMSS13 in New Orleans.
Former Utah Governor Michael Leavitt was confirmed by the Senate as the Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2005. Known for advocating Medicare reform during a period when it appeared headed for financial insolvency, Leavitt was also considered to be one of Romney’s closest advisors during the Presidential campaign.
The former Utah governor now runs Leavitt Partners, a healthcare advisory firm that focuses on issues surrounding accountable care, and government policy.
HIMSS co-developed the HX360 leadership forum with AVIA, a provider-led accelerator, to focus on innovation and technology best practices for healthcare executives.
Other speakers on the HX360 calendar include Cedars-Sinai Health CEO Thomas Pirselac, Christiana Care CIO Randy Gaboriault, Dignity Health CEO Lloyd Dean and his colleague chief strategic innovation officer Rich Roth, Memorial Hermann COO Chuck Stokes, OSF Healthcare CEO Kevin Schoeplein, Providence Health senior vice president of strategy and innovation Aaron Martin, Royal Philips CEO Frans van Houten, University Health Network CEO Peter Pisters, MD Royal Philips CEO Frans van Houten, and Proteus Digital Health CEO Andrew Thompson.
HIMSS16 runs from February 29 – March 4, 2016 at the Sands Expo Convention Center. Register here and register for HX360 here.
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