Generating policy ideas to foster bipartisan cooperation on national health care reform.
The Vision
High-level policy experts, trade association leadership, industry decision-makers, experienced doctors, nurses, healthcare administrators, and others on the healthcare frontline worked to explore high–impact opportunities for a much-improved future healthcare systemfrom 2018 – 2019. Participants discussed three central themes:
This project came at a time when a majority of the country was watching as health care policy emerged. Throughout the Convergence Future of Health project, few issues were as politically divisive and contentious on the national stage as health care. Congressional hearings, major administrative actions, state health reform initiatives, and public debates about the future of health care created a high–pressure, high-stakes environment. Our participants forged ahead to deliver on identifying ways our nation’s health system could be improved.
“Difficult problems require frank informed dialogue that builds trust amongst the participants. Convergence Future of Health was a highly valued opportunity to bring together high-level professionals with different approaches to solving critical health policy problems. It was time well spent.”
“The Convergence Future of Health initiative convened a truly impactful group of thinkers, practitioners, and advocates for some valuable and bonding conversations about the future of our health care system. I considered it an honor to be able to learn from, and consider ideas alongside, the leaders that Convergence brought together. The meetings were invaluable in helping us all to understand one another’s perspectives, but also to form coalitions of “strange bedfellows” for positive change in the future.”
“We were delighted to participate in the unique Convergence Future of Health project. The conversations were civil and informative. New ideas and understandings were generated. Some of us left with concrete action steps we could take to improve our contributions to a better health care system. And ground has been laid for increasingly more impactful collaboration in the future among groups and individuals who ordinarily find common ground elusive.”
“Now more than ever, it is vitally important to build consensus about improving our healthcare system. Convergence provides an opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders to come together and have a real dialogue about challenging issues. These kinds of conversations are what we need to find common ground.”
“As a President and CEO of a large community health center, the Convergence Future of Health experience was extremely valuable. Being able to talk with these amazing colleagues, most of whom I’d never met and all of whom are steeped in health care policy and politics at important levels, was beneficial in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. I deal with policy in my position, but I don’t do it full-time, and we’re focused on helping our patients through the system at an operational level. Being surrounded by people who are immersed in policy was extraordinary. I look forward to participating in this kind of work going forward. Highly recommended.”
“The Convergence Future of Health initiative provided many thoughtful opportunities to engage diverse health stakeholder organization leaders in a dialogue about how we might improve our nation’s health and health-care system. At a time when our policy-making and political processes are too often marked by vituperative rigidity, this initiative enabled all the participants to explore the possibilities for finding common ground. As we did so, it also helped to foster productive relationships among leaders with quite differing perspectives.”
“As the country continues to be divided and highly partisan in its views towards foreign policy challenges, domestic policy issues, and especially health policy challenges and solutions, the role of Convergence – whose purpose is to bring together individuals with different views and positions – only grows in importance. I am proud to have helped organize these efforts, and I look forward to working with my Convergence Future of Health colleagues to advance some of the high impact opportunities we explored together.”
Interested in funding a project in the future?
Check out our donate page or contact our development team to learn more.