• Sharon Hanson, Chair, HTNYS, and Secretary, Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo

• Nicholas Henley, MPH, Executive Director, HTNYS, and Vice President, External Affairs, HANYS
• Kristen Phillips, Director, Trustee Education, HTNYS, and Director, Community Health Policy, HANYS

• Shawn G. DuBravac, PhD, CFA, Futurist, Trendcaster, The New York Times Bestselling Author

In the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, leaders face the critical challenge of understanding and adapting to the strategic imperatives reshaping hospital operations and patient care. It is essential for leaders to recognize the forces driving change — such as technological advancements, policy shifts, changing patient expectations and economic pressures — to effectively redefine their approach to healthcare delivery. Hospitals must not only ensure that their strategic focus enhances the financial performance of capital-intensive services but also acknowledge that traditional methods may no longer suffice in the future. This necessitates a forward-thinking mindset that embraces innovation, leverages new technologies and anticipates the needs of a changing patient demographic. By doing so, healthcare leaders can guide their organizations toward sustainable success, meeting the demands of the modern healthcare environment while maintaining excellence in patient care and operational efficiency.

• Pamela R. Knecht, President and Chief Executive Officer, ACCORD LIMITED

The healthcare field is complex, and continues to evolve quickly, so it can be difficult for board members to feel they are making a significant contribution. And yet, executives need their boards to fully engage with them as partners to help to improve the health of their communities.

This presentation focuses on how to renew and refresh board service so it is both gratifying to individual board members and helpful to their executive teams. The key is to ensure that each board member is truly engaged in and contributing to conversations and decision-making. This requires going beyond changing board structures and policies to improving how board members are selected, oriented, educated and ultimately involved in discussions. The board chair plays a critical role in ensuring board members are well-prepared for and involved in important decisions. This session will include practical methods for renewing the board by engaging each member.

• Bea Grause, RN, JD, President, HANYS
• Thomas Carman, Chair, HANYS Board of Trustees and President and CEO, Samaritan Health System

Bea Grause will explore HANYS’ recent publication, The Case for Change, and its set of irrefutable facts related to New Yorkers’ projected future healthcare needs. She’ll discuss the four drivers pushing New York’s healthcare system to an existential cliff and talk about how HANYS is working with our members and partners throughout the healthcare industry to develop solutions that will build a sustainable healthcare system. She and Tom Carman will discuss their vision for this future healthcare system and what hospitals and trustees can do to help achieve it.

• Steven Berkowitz, MD, Founder and President, SMB Health Consulting

Hardly a day goes by without a story in the news about artificial intelligence and its impact on society. New advances in technology and applications — both exciting and scary — seem to be occurring exponentially. There is now evidence that AI can learn on its own and that it can “make things up” or even hallucinate. GPT is enabling technology that is increasingly human. Computer-brain interfaces can physically connect the mind to the computer.

How do healthcare leaders stay on top of the science and make knowledgeable decisions? Or do we just let AI take over the world? Might your new doctor be an AI hologram? This session will review basic AI models and concepts such as processing speed, machine learning and networks, with particular emphasis on their applications in healthcare. Dr. Berkowitz will discuss special interest topics such as GPT, brain-computer interfaces, emergent properties and the concept of singularity. He will examine the present and future impact of AI on healthcare systems, patients and providers.

Finally, with the recent “Pause” letter on GPT technology, he will discuss the moral implications of AI and the role of future regulations and compliance.

Unwind after your education-filled day at the historic Adelphi Hotel. Indulge in cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and network with your colleagues in a relaxed, picturesque setting. It’s the perfect starting point for exploring Saratoga as you enjoy a night on the town.

• Joseph B. Cuozzo, MBA, Vice President, Information Technology, Richmond University Medical Center
• Thomas Hallisey, Director, Digital Health Strategy, HANYS
• Timothy C. Harrison, Chair, Richmond University Medical Center, and Member, Board of Governors, HTNYS
• Kristopher Kusche, CISSP, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, HCISPP, Senior Vice President and System Chief Information Officer, Albany Med Health System
• Daniel J. Messina, PhD, FACHE, President and CEO, Richmond University Medical Center

Cyberattacks on hospitals and health systems are growing in frequency and severity, and trustees are critical to understanding and curtailing cybersecurity risks. This session will review the latest trends and developments in cybersecurity, the Change Healthcare cyberattack, new DOH cybersecurity regulations for hospitals that require reporting to the board, and the latest federal regulations. A member CIO will share how he regularly reports on cyber and healthcare information technology to the board. You’ll also hear about a fellow trustee’s experience navigating a breach including the perspectives of their CEO and vice president, information technology who spearheaded the response.

• Bea Grause, RN, JD
• James V. McDonald, MD, MPH, Commissioner of Health, New York State Department of Health

Hear from the health commissioner on what he has learned over the past year in this important role and how that will shape the direction of DOH moving forward, and DOH’s health and public health priorities. Bea Grause will join the commissioner to discuss how the industry and the state can partner to tackle shared objectives such as ensuring the financial viability of our healthcare providers; addressing social determinants and promoting health equity; and behavioral healthcare including the need for coordinated strategies between state agencies; among other important priorities.

• Ann Scott Blouin, PhD, MBA, MSN, RN, FACHE, President and Founder, PSQ Advisory

Using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s framework for what the board needs to know, this session will offer insights into the knowledge and skills board members should possess for effective quality and patient safety governance. During this session, Ann Blouin will review key information for trustees around quality measures impacting inpatient and outpatient care improvement objectives and evaluation of quality initiatives. She will describe example criteria to inform decisions around which measures may be selected and reported to the board. Trustees will gain insight into the numerous useful inputs for consideration, including the community needs assessment, public health mandates, social determinants of health, continued evolution toward outpatient health services, care continuum focus, shift to value-based care, financial impacts and population health.

• David Wasserman, Senior Editor and Elections Analyst, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, and NBC Contributor

David Wasserman will provide a timely election forecast less than two months before Election Day, including a detailed look at key U.S. House races in New York, the national issues and themes playing out in local races and how healthcare factors into national and state election debates.

Boxed lunches available. Grab and go or stay and eat.