Episode 21 : ViVE and CHIME:

SFTS-Rich Scarfo: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

SFTS-Rich Scarfo: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Intro/Outro:
Welcome to Smart from the Start, presented by Care.ai, the Smart Care Facility, platform company and leader in AI and ambient intelligence for healthcare. Join Steve Lieber, former CEO of HIMSS, as he interviews the brightest minds in the health provider space on truly transformative technologies that are modernizing healthcare.

Steve Lieber:
Hello, and welcome to Smart from the Start! I'm your host, Steve Lieber, and it is my pleasure to bring to you a series of conversations with some of the sharpest minds and health information technology. On this podcast, we discuss the smart directions healthcare companies and providers are pursuing to create smart care teams. Today, I'm joined by Rich Scarfo. Rich and I work together. A number of years ago when Rich was at PCH Alliance, which HIMSS acquired while I was the CEO there. For the five-plus years, Rich has been president of HLTH, the organization that I think this audience certainly knows well from Landmark Conference you guys started a few years ago. And then early in his career, Rich was a long time executive at the Consumer Electronics Association. He was deeply involved in CES, the Consumer Electronics Show. Rich, good to see you.

Rich Scarfo:
Good to see you again, Steve.

Steve Lieber:
Well, this is really a fun opportunity here because as I said in the intro there, Rich and I go way back. And in fact, Rich, I think, drove a lot of the change and innovation that went into the HIMSS conference by virtue of the work you were doing at PCH Alliance and the connecting for HLTH conference that you were doing there. And really, let's kind of start out with sort of your philosophy about events and what you're trying to do over your career in terms of the events that you've been a part of and led?

Rich Scarfo:
Sure, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. And there's been sort of a consistent thread throughout my career in terms of events, and certainly, HLTH has been a great place to build on that, and that is making sure that we're delivering events that bring the best senior executives together in the industry, key organizations from across the different sectors. We're serving an experiential overall event for attendees and making sure that there's a return on investment and a return on time invested for all of our participants.

Steve Lieber:
Yeah, well, you certainly have one coming up in the next few weeks that we want to talk about, ViVE. ViVE is actually a partnership event between HLTH and CHIME. This is the third year after of what I think was a very successful launch in Miami Beach a couple of years ago, and then last year's event in Nashville. So, you know, so start out with, for any of those of our audience that were under a rock for the past three years, what is it? What's going on there? And tell us a little more about it.

Rich Scarfo:
So ViVE again is been just an amazing new launch, newer launch for us. As you mentioned, we're going to our third year for us. I think the partnership with CHIME has been critical here. We know that we entered a very crowded space in terms of events, just in healthcare in general. So the thought process, in the beginning, was how do we deliver something that is filling a gap in the marketplace, and how do we cater to, again, those senior executives, companies in the health IT, and digital health space and create something that would be of interest to attendees and companies and key partners? We think ViVE has hit on that. It's one of our fastest, actually. It is our fastest-growing event here at HLTH. The partnership with CHIME has been critical in delivering the C-suite across hospital systems, so this event is a little more targeted than HLTH. We really focus in the audience in three sectors: payers, providers, and the startup community. And on the sponsor side, we're really focusing on companies that are doing business with payers and providers, especially health IT companies and digital health companies that some are at HLTH, not many. We wanted to make sure that this event was very different from HLTH. So it's really focusing on the business of healthcare systems and where healthcare is right now, and what that looks like in terms of the networking and the conversation amongst the executives that we attract and how they do business with the companies that we have as sponsors and exhibitors. And I think one of the things across our events that makes them really quite unique is very developed. What used to be our hosted buyer program, it is now our Provider and Payer Connect program, and we also have two other key networking activities at the event. One is funding founders, and that brings together startups, founders of startups actually with VCs. And the other is just ViVE Attendee Connect. And that really is something that is made available to facilitate networking across the event for all attendees. So between these three programs alone, we will host around 11,000 meetings at ViVE this year. And you know, it follows our model of making networking easy, offering a platform where companies activate and what we call a right-sized activation. You know, we don't want companies coming with massive stands on the floor and large delegations from their companies. What we'd rather have is a right-sized activation on the floor, whatever that looks like, you know, executive level team from your company and the ability to activate in other ways that position your company at the event. So they could be customer events, they could be in the connect meetings, they could be branding, and all the normal things that other events offer. But we try to wrap all of those traditional things around the right-sized activation, the senior-level audience, and the connect programs.

Steve Lieber:
You know, it really is a great opportunity. Having been a part of the conference for the past couple of years, it is the place to be to do business. There's such a wealth of people from different places and different positions and such, and they're all there at one time. So great opportunity in the various connects programs, I think, really go a very long way of making it easy for people to navigate those connections. Looking over the website, and again, this is a hallmark of HLTH events, a wealth of speakers, I mean, page, page, page, page of speakers. Talk a little bit about who's at the top of that list and what you've got going there in terms of the educational program.

Rich Scarfo:
Yeah, so I should mention that our program that we put together is really based on a couple of things. One is we do like executive level speakers across the board. We like to bring speakers together that have not spoken at the event before. That's very important to us. We also like to have topics that are addressed first at ViVE or HLTH. It's very important to us that when you're catering to a senior-level audience, that you're bringing them the freshest content, and we try to do that. Our program is put together a little bit differently than most events, so we actually don't do a call for presentations, we do a call for speakers, and we craft our program around the speaker submissions that we get. So it takes a little bit longer. It's a little bit more of a custom approach. And I would say that of the 2000 submissions we get for HLTH, and probably about 1800 for ViVE, of those, you know, about 60% of our speakers come from that, and then we also craft the rest of the program with invited speakers. What's important about our program also is it has different elements to it. So we have our general program, and that takes place on five stages. And I should say that the other thing that makes ViVE and HLTH very different is all of our stages are on the floor. We try to create an environment that brings all of our companies and attendees onto the floor and then keeps them there. So we have all of the networking, we have food, which is all included. We have all of our sessions, and then we have meeting spaces throughout the floor. So it really facilitates a very easy event experience for the attendees. So this year, we will have senior executives and C-suite from different types of organizations, the VA, Optum, GE Healthcare, Microsoft, HHS. We'll have quite a few provider organizations at the senior level represented across the program, as well as payers. On the floor, we'll have two key areas. One is around interop, and that has been a growing area for us. We have three smaller stages there with again, a wealth of speakers. Those are a little bit different. They're more case studies, demos, and an experience within a pavilion that has about 70 companies tied to it. We also have cybersecurity. And that's another of course, important topic for this industry, same format. And this year, something that's new that we're adding to our lineup of topics is nurses at ViVE, and that's a really important initiative for us, and it came about in an interesting way. We had some amazing content around nurse leaders at HLTH, and we always like to hear direct feedback, positive or negative. And some of the feedback coming to us was, this is great, but nurses really can't be at ViVE or HLTH for several reasons. One is budget, two is time. So what we decided to do was launch this program, which would help nurse leaders and those in the field actively using the products and services that both events are representing, and find a way to get them to the event. Because we feel that even though it might seem that the feedback coming to us in the beginning is negative, what we look at is something that really helps us evolve and grow our events, and we think it's a privilege to have a sector of the industry that says, we really think we need to be at your events, and we're not sure how to get there. So what we try to do is look for ways to make that happen. And this is one of the ways, and it follows the same model as patients at HLTH and patients at ViVE that we launched last year. But we will have a stage for nurse leaders. We'll have a thread throughout our program. We have offered scholarships, and we'll have upwards of 50 of those that have been distributed through our HLTH Foundation, and we have a pavilion on the floor that allows for networking. We feel that this is a really good way to bring an audience to the event in a way that meets them where they are. One of the things that we heard early on is that without nurses, there is no healthcare, and we believe that, and we want to make sure that it's an important voice that we're finding a way to include as we get in a little bit deeper to this, and it really ties into a lot of the challenges that are going throughout our program. But nurses are not always included in product development, and sometimes, the way that these products are developed adds a burden to them instead of helping them. So there are a lot of things that we're doing to provide a forum at the event, outside of the programming. We have our lounge, and we'll have one-on-one touch bases with nurses. We're working on roundtables, and we're working with the key leading associations. So I spent a little bit of time on that because it really does reflect how we like to approach the industry, and we like the events to be very responsive to the needs and responsive to requests to make sure, you know, again, that we're delivering something that is filling a void or several voids, and that is of interest to individuals and companies that are not just going to show up, but have really a presence that helps us move the industry forward.

Steve Lieber:
Yeah, I'm with you totally there. As a matter of fact, I'm moderating a session on the CHIME stage in the area of virtual nursing. It's called Creating and Empowering Smart Care Teams on Tuesday, February 27th at 10:30, for those of you that are making notes there. And we really are focused on this conversation; I've got three provider executives there. And your comment about oftentimes nursing is not brought into the conversation. And when they are, sometimes it's burdensome and that sort. And that's one of the things we really are hoping to cover is, how have these execs been able to bring the front line into the conversation and be a part of what they are developing on this smart care journey. So I'm really looking forward to being a part of that conversation, and I'm glad to hear that. That's a real focus of the conference. Over the years, you've been very involved in startups in terms of creating a venue, so talk a little bit about what's going on there with the startup community.

Rich Scarfo:
So the startup community, we look at startups as really the entry point of innovation. You have some of the best ideas, the craziest ideas, and things that really make people stop and think. And for us, it adds a little bit of excitement to the event. HLTH and ViVE are different in the sense of the numbers, but very much aligned in the approach. And our philosophy with startups is that they need events like HLTH and ViVE to be in front of the right type of executives. So at HLTH, we'll deliver about 1700 VCs, and that event, we'll get to that, but much more focused on the innovation spectrum. ViVE is really about startups that are closer to doing business, still looking for funding. So we have a nice showing of VCs, but they're really looking for pilot programs, partnerships, and alignment with hospital systems and payers. And, you know, there's a lot of interest in how innovation from companies that show up at the event that are startups can help facilitate that. So we have two different ways that startups show up. One is we offer a full package for them to have a kiosk at the event, which is very cost-effective. And the other is we offer a startup rate. And then in addition to that, we offer, as I mentioned, the Funding Founders platform at both events, which is a very easy way for them to get in front of those looking to invest or for partnerships. So ViVE this year will see more startups, and we're starting to see a lot of the accelerators come over. They're all present at HLTH already, but took a little bit of time, I think, to land the right approach there. But we were very surprised, I think, even after our first event, as you might recall, how many startups and VCs actually showed up at ViVE. So we're looking at how this event can offer a very different platform and experience and access than HLTH does.

Steve Lieber:
And it really is a great opportunity for those early-stage companies, as well as for other companies, to connect with them and look at business opportunities and such, and it really is just a great addition. Just to wrap up on ViVE 'cause, before we run out of time, I do want to get to the other two events that HLTH is driving this year. The other thing that I think is remarkable is your focus on experience, and you've touched on that in the comments that you've made here about the attendees' experience in terms of not only the educational program, but business opportunities, the social opportunities, and that sort of thing. And I just want to commend you and the HLTH team for just really thinking about the attendee first, and what am I going to experience there, and how can you make it enjoyable. And it's just something to just call out there that you guys are clearly focused on.

Rich Scarfo:
We believe firmly that if an event, an event gets too large, you start to lose the executive. If an event gets to the point where it's very sort of, doesn't offer all of the elements that we try to focus on, it's hard to get executives to continue to come back. We're heading into ViVE right now. You know, registration is in full force, but we're still averaging just above 30% C-suite at ViVE, which is really what we strive for.

Steve Lieber:
And that is key. I mean, it's the objective of the conference to bring those folks together, and there is such a wealth of opportunity there for people to connect with one another. And so that's coming up February 25th to 28th in Los Angeles, and so looking forward to that. So, and say, you've got two other events coming up. One, somewhat on the heels of this June 17th to the 20th in Amsterdam, HLTH Europe, new event, first shot. So tell us a little bit about that.

Rich Scarfo:
So HLTH Europe is our first foray outside of the US. Whenever we get into we want to make sure that again, there's a need and that we can approach it the right way. I think, first and foremost, we decided right at the beginning that launching an event in Europe does not mean that the HLTH team is just creating another HLTH event in Europe. We were very careful about a lot of interviews before this event. We've hired a full team in Europe, so this is an event for Europe being run by a team in Europe, and we think that's very important. We'll bring together really the focus of HLTH and ViVE. So, you know, HLTH will really just focus on the innovation spectrum and really all touchpoints of healthcare, whereas ViVE is more of the business event, so both of those things will come together. We have a lot of the inspiration of the event will come from the US and goes back to experience the networking programs, a focus on senior executives, the brightest speakers and best content, and a mix of companies that will really be something that is of interest to an audience. Registration for that is going very well. We opened early because, you know, with a new event, it's hard to build your first audience, so that's going well. We've just announced our first 200 speakers, and what you'll find about HLTH Europe is that it is not an event that leans into, say, one HLTH ministry and is heavy on that country. This is something where we're trying very hard to make sure that it is a pan-European event. That brings its own challenges because, as you know, healthcare in every country in Europe is slightly different, and they have their own challenges. But we really look at it as an opportunity for these leaders to come together and to discuss and learn from each other. So our website has the first 200 speakers, and you'll see speakers from the US, Denmark, UK, Germany, just all throughout Europe. And we're very pleased with that. We also have in that first 200, you will see that they are almost all C-suite. And that's again something that's important to us because, again, there are a lot of health events so, or healthcare events, I should say. So we want to make sure that ours stand out and really are able to bring people in for an experience that they won't forget. And our best test of an event is when it's over, people saying, I can't wait until next year.

Steve Lieber:
Well, good luck to you on that one, and I will not be at all surprised that that's the word coming out. As I say, the experience at HLTH events is so unique and so positive. I know it's going to go well. And you're right, the pan-European approach is important because there are lessons to be learned from across the continent, and having been involved in some of those in my past as well, tremendous value there and then going to, we'll call it the foundational event, October 20th, 23rd in Las Vegas, HLTH US.

Rich Scarfo:
HLTH US. So this event has been really something that has helped us, I would say, as a company, put ourselves in front of all of the right executives and companies to help the other events to make them possible, really. HLTH will focus again on the full innovation spectrum, and the way that we like to look at it is what's possible in healthcare. Where is healthcare going, and what does healthcare look like in 2, in 5, in 10 years? And moves beyond the hospital or the provider system and the payer, and it moves into our key categories of attendees. So we have a much larger pharma life sciences presence there, a massive startup and VC community. We have government, which is actually growing at both events, but that's a very important group there. Then we also bring in payers, and for that event, it's also important for us to articulate that it's an innovation event versus what we do at ViVE. So we get a different set of executives from provider and payer systems. And then the other group that's growing for us is the employer, large employers. And so bringing all that together into one event is a challenge because you're really catering to many different segments of the industry. But, you know, at the end, it really does come down to what's possible for the individual, and that's what all of this is about. How do we make health and healthcare better for people? And it's something that we really focus on. So we're seeing growth in that event. We're bringing some new features to it. We'll have nurses at HLTH again, we'll bring our AI pavilion, and we're launching an AI effort at ViVE this year as well, so that we see something that's growing. Food as medicine is another area that we're doing HLTH. For us, looking at how do we bring things that are attendees won't experience anywhere else. Another thing that we're bringing back is systemic oral healthcare. And that's something that we launched last year, and you know, it's an interesting approach, but it really, and it's, I think, most basic form is there are some people that are only touchpoint with the healthcare system is through a dentist, and it's really important that certain things are detected at that point. So it's looking at how do we bring the dental healthcare community together with the healthcare community that we already cater to. So we had a wonderful launch last year, and there's quite a bit of growth focused on the pavilion, the programming, and also the executives that were bringing in for that this year.

Steve Lieber:
Rich, it sounds like it is jam-packed with a lot of really neat stuff. I mean, and again, typical of what we've come to expect out of you and out of HLTH. So look forward to following up with you closer to that and having a deeper dive into HLTH US, which is again in October in Las Vegas. So to wrap up, let's remind our listeners that ViVE is almost here, February 20th to the 23rd in Los Angeles. And so I know I'll see you there, Rich, and hopefully, we'll have many of our listeners attending as well. So I appreciate your time today. It's really been great catching up with you.

Rich Scarfo:
We appreciate the opportunity, Steve. It's always good to connect with you.

Steve Lieber:
Great. And to our listeners, thank you for joining us. I hope this series helps you make healthcare smarter and move at the speed of tech. Be well.

Intro/Outro:
Thanks for listening to Smart from the Start. For best practices in AI, in ambient intelligence, and ways your organization can help lead the era of smart hospitals, visit us at SmartHospital.ai, and for information on the leading Smart Care Facility platform, visit Care.ai.

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