Contributor: Katherine Clark, MD'15, WG’15

It's hard to believe how quickly the past few years have flown by, and now my term as President is already drawing to a close! As I reflect on my tenure on the WHCMAA board, I'm filled with gratitude for all we’ve accomplished together. Read more.

This eclectic standing column features insightful musings, words of wisdom, life lessons, and stepping-stones to business success. This month's philosopher is Rob Varady, WG’14, VP of ACO Operations at Essen Health Care, which serves frail and homebound seniors with complex chronic conditions across New York City. Read more.

Contributor: Joe Mazzenga

As healthcare leadership continues to evolve, feedback emerges as a critical catalyst for organizational success. Yet many healthcare organizations still grapple with the challenge of creating environments where feedback flows naturally and constructively. Read more.

Contributor: Vidya Murthy, WEMBA’42 

It’s been a roller coaster of a year, and it’s only just begun. While themes have stayed the same with regards to workforce challenges, burnout on all sides of the healthcare equation, and the salvation of bleeding edge technology is just within our grasp (read: AI will save us all), the reality is the new administration in the U.S. is going to introduce an unprecedented level of uncertainty. Read more.

Contributor: Elizabeth Hodgson

Very few can simultaneously identify a gap or need in the healthcare sector, conceive of and develop technology, navigate the complex regulatory and legal landscape of start-up companies, raise capital, deploy appropriate business acumen, and commercialize products and services.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to capitalize on industry-insider expertise and the business sense of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists? Well, there is. Enter venture studios. Read more. 

Contributor: Ben Katz, WH'02, W'02, NURS'02

Scaling a direct-to-consumer healthcare start-up like Happy Head involves several critical strategies and considerations. Learn valuable insights for entrepreneurs looking to build successful D2C healthcare businesses. Read more. 

Contributor: Sean Harvey

In today’s polarized landscape, bridge builders — leaders, facilitators, and change-makers — are at the forefront of fostering dialogue and collaboration. Yet, navigating deep-seated conflicts, ideological extremism, and systemic inequities can be emotionally and mentally exhausting.

Grounded neutrality equips bridge builders with the resilience to engage across divides while maintaining presence and fostering genuine connection. This approach shifts responses from knee-jerk reactions to thoughtful engagement, allowing facilitators to hold complexity without absorbing hostility. Rooted in open-hearted, non-judgmental curiosity, grounded neutrality enables authentic dialogue and transformative encounters. Read more.

Contributors: Wren Keber, Lisa Soroka, and Z. Colette Edwards, WG'84, MD, 85

Virtual care disruptors have been making waves in the healthcare industry, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. As we navigate the complexities and fragmentation of the healthcare system, many envision alternative pathways to engage with providers, challenging the status quo. Read more. 

Contributor: Jeff Tzeng, DO, MPH, MBA

As companies face complex challenges from workforce well-being/safety to rising health plan and benefits spend to retaining talent, the importance of strategic health leadership has never been greater. Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) are critical leaders who can bridge medical expertise with business strategy to drive innovation to keep a business competitive. Read more.

Contributors: Linda Roszak Burton, ACC, BBC, BS and Betsy Chapin Taylor, FAHP

Compassion satisfaction refers to the positive feelings clinicians derive from helping others. Research consistently demonstrates an inverse relationship between compassion satisfaction and burnout. Compassion satisfaction provides a buffer against emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and it strengthens physicians' sense of efficacy and personal accomplishment. Read more. 

Contributors: Barbara Handelin, Ph.D. and Karyn Polak

Seasoned biotech industry professionals and other accomplished connections including the authors formed a public benefit non-profit entity, The 90~10 Institute, to tackle these medical and economic failures by proposing to stand up a new biomedical industry: Biotech v2.0. Our vision for Biotech v2.0 activates the heart and soul of scientists, philanthropists, and investors to serve the original mission of the biomedical industry: to care for the greatest number of people and treat the greatest number of health challenges possible, in the most efficient way. Read more. 

Contributors: Jason C. Pradarelli, MD, MS, Carey H. Gallagher, and Jennifer Tomasik, SM, FACHE

A health system CEO recently shared with us: "It feels like we're trying to steer a ship through dense fog. We see icebergs ahead in new and potential policy, regulatory, payment model and other changes, but we can't see their exact location or how big they'll be." The Campaign Approach to Change facilitates successful strategy implementation by partnering upstream with people to simultaneously shape strategy while driving change. Read more. 

Contributor: Christian DiGiacomo, WG’25

In the fall of 2024, WGHV partnered with four client organizations across the globe to solve some of their most impactful business problems - CMMB Peru (maternal and child health in Peru), Zoie Health (women’s health clinic in South Africa), Almouneer (digital diabetes care in Egypt), and MedsGo (digital pharmacy services in the Philippines). Read more.