Future of Health Care Conference Agenda

7:45-8 a.m.

Dr. Laura Dunham
Dean, Opus College of Business

8-9:15 a.m.

The rapidly evolving health care landscape demands visionary leadership. In this session, top CEOs from leading health care organizations share their insights on navigating unprecedented challenges, from workforce shortages and financial pressures to patient expectations and technological advancements. Hear how they’re fostering innovation, resilience, and adaptability to ensure their organizations thrive in the face of change.

Panelists:

• Lisa Shannon—President and CEO, Allina Health
• Ashok Rai—President and CEO, Prevea Health
• Jennifer DeCubellis—CEO, Hennepin Healthcare System
• Trevor Sawallish—CEO, North Memorial Health

Moderator: John Cumming

What you’ll learn:

• Leadership strategies for driving organizational success
• Approaches to tackling workforce challenges and improving employee retention
• The evolving role of the CEO in building health care systems of the future.

9:45-10:30 a.m.

David Johnson—CEO, 4sight Health

Introduction by Jennifer Boese

10:45-11:45 a.m.

As health care systems face mounting fiscal pressures, value-based care emerges as both a solution and a challenge. This session explores how health care organizations are implementing value-based payment models, aligning financial incentives with patient outcomes, and addressing the fiscal realities of delivering high-quality care while supporting the organization’s long-term strategy. Learn from thought leaders who are navigating the complex transition from volume to value and driving sustainable change across the industry.

Panelists:

• Paul Pritchard—Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Prevea Health
• Krista Skorupa—President East Market, Essentia
• Scott Cullen—Senior Advisor, Health Data Analytics Institute

Moderator: Joe White

What you’ll learn:

• Practical strategies for managing costs while improving care quality
• The role of partnerships, technology, and data in scaling value-based care
• Policy and payer innovations shaping the future of health care reimbursement

12:45-1:45 p.m.

Meet the pioneers shaping the future of health care. This panel brings together visionaries who are transforming care delivery with innovative solutions that address critical gaps in access, quality, and cost. From personalized care models to groundbreaking approaches in community health, our speakers share their stories of success, lessons learned, and the challenges they’ve overcome to reimagine health care for the next generation.

Panelists:

• Michael Madison—Founder, President and CEO, Thanacare
• Thompson Aderinkomi—Co-founder and CEO, Nice Healthcare
• Efrain Torres—Co-founder and CEO, Adialante

Moderator: Ryan Johnson

What you’ll learn:

• How these innovators are addressing unmet needs in health care
• Strategies for scaling novel care models to broader populations
• Insights into the future of patient-centric health care solutions.

2-3 p.m.

In this panel, we will discuss the realities of health care clinical and non-clinical use cases, their impact and potential as well as lessons learned. In this multi-disciplinary panel, we'll invite discussions from Mayo Clinic and M Health Fairview to share their AI experiences, which will be openly elaborated on from the perspectives of two University of St. Thomas faculty members from the School of Engineering and the School of Nursing.

Panelists:

• Brenna Loufek—Director of AI - Regulatory and Quality, Mayo Clinic
• Leyla Warsame—Internal Medicine Hospitalist and Associate CMIO of Advanced Clinical Decision Support and Digital, Fairview Health Services
• Laura Beasley—Clinical Professor of Nursing, University of St. Thomas Morrison Family College of Health
• Justin Grammens—Adjunct Professor, University of St. Thomas School of Engineering; Founder and CEO, Lab651

Moderator: Kjrk Reyerson

3-3:45 p.m.

Andy Truscott—Global Health Technology Lead, Accenture

Introduction by Joe White

Laura Dunham, PhD., was appointed dean of the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas in 2022. An entrepreneurial thought leader, she has spent the last 20 years of her career at St. Thomas and served most recently as the associate dean of Opus' Schulze School of Entrepreneurship. During her tenure, the Schulze School went from unranked to No. 18 on the Princeton Review's list of undergraduate entrepreneurship programs, becoming the top Catholic undergraduate program in the nation and Minnesota's No. 1 undergraduate program. Dunham, who earned an MBA and a doctorate in entrepreneurship and ethics from the University of Virginia, joined St. Thomas in 2003.

CEOs: Leadership for New Challenges

Lisa Shannon is the CEO of Allina Health, a nonprofit health care system serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin. She sets the strategic direction for Allina Health, ensuring the organization delivers high-quality care and supports the health and well-being of all those served.

Previously, she served as president and chief operating officer, accountable for driving exceptional clinical, operational, and financial performance to deliver quality, affordable care. Before joining Allina Health, she served as COO and president of KentuckyOne Health, the largest integrated health system in Kentucky, and held executive roles at Spectrum Health (now Corewell Health) in Michigan, including three years as COO.

Shannon began her career as a clinical dietitian and rose to vice president of ambulatory services at OhioHealth. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University and an MBA from Franklin University. She serves on the boards of the American Hospital Association and the Minnesota Business Partnership and is a member of the AHA Health Systems Committee, the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable, and the Itasca Project.

CEOs: Leadership for New Challenges

Dr. Ashok Rai is the president and CEO of Prevea Health, a physician-led and owned, multispecialty health care provider working in partnership with Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) hospitals across Wisconsin. Founded in Green Bay in 1996, Prevea today employs more than 2,400 people, including 500+ physicians and advanced practice providers, delivering care in more than 30 communities, as well as a health insurance plan (Prevea360) with one of the largest coordinated networks across Wisconsin.

Dr. Rai’s passion to redesign health care in the U.S. embraces the movement from fee-for-service methods of payment to value-based care, which rewards health care organizations for preventive care and promoting healthy lifestyles rather than the volume of procedures performed.

He earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin and completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics through Michigan State University. He specialized in hospital medicine and held various leadership roles at Prevea Health before becoming its president and CEO in 2009.

Dr. Rai continues to practice medicine, caring for patients at Woodside Lutheran Nursing Home in Green Bay and occasionally working hospitalist shifts at local HSHS hospitals. He is deeply involved in his community and serves as a Regent for the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents, Chair of the Business and Finance Committee, a Venture Partner at Titletown Tech, and a board member of the Brewer Company in Milwaukee, among other leadership roles.

CEOs: Leadership for New Challenges

Jennifer DeCubellis is the CEO of Hennepin Healthcare System (HHS), an integrated system of care that includes a nationally recognized Level I Adult and Pediatric Trauma Center, a 484-bed academic hospital, as well as a clinic and specialty care system located in Minneapolis and across Hennepin County. HHS includes a large psychiatric program, home care, hospice, and Emergency Medical Services (EMS), operating a large fleet of ambulances serving 14 cities in Hennepin County. Hennepin Healthcare has two subsidiaries; Hennepin Research Institute (HHRI) and Hennepin Healthcare Foundation (HHF). Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc., is a subsidiary corporation of Hennepin County.

DeCubellis holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and a bachelor’s degree in special education from UW-Madison. She has 25+ years in public program administration working across all areas of Health and Human Services with an emphasis on program redesign, system transformation, and quality improvements to ensure positive resident outcomes alongside prudent financial management.

CEOs: Leadership for New Challenges

Trevor Sawallish was named North Memorial Health's Chief Executive Officer in early 2024. As CEO, Sawallish leads North Memorial Health’s executive team, championing the organization’s strategic plan and advancing the long-term vision. Sawallish has more than 20 years of experience in health care, previously serving as North’s Chief Operating Officer. Sawallish is an accomplished leader with extensive experience across the health care sector, including executive roles at Dean Clinic, Children’s Minnesota and SSM Health. He has made significant contributions at North Memorial Health with a focus on operational excellence, and purposeful integration of quality, safety and experience disciplines.

Sawallish is passionate about improving health care. He strives to strengthen the connection between healthcare and the community, drive the adoption of technologies that benefit patients and caregivers and support the pride and purpose of health care professionals.

Keynote: Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Coming Health Care Revolution

David W. Johnson is the CEO of 4sight Health, a thought leadership and advisory company at the intersection of strategy, economics, innovation, and capital formation. Prior to founding 4sight Health in 2014, he had a successful career in health care investment banking. Johnson holds a degree from Colgate University and a master’s in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School.

Employing his knowledge and experience in health policy, economics, statistics, behavioral finance, disruptive innovation, organizational change and complexity theory, Johnson writes and speaks on pro-market health care reform. He is the author of Market vs. Medicine: America's Epic Fight for Better, Affordable Healthcare, The Customer Revolution in Healthcare: Delivering Kinder, Smarter, Affordable Care for All, and his latest book with Paul Kusserow, The Coming Healthcare Revolution: 10 Forces that Will Cure America's Healthcare Crisis, available at 4sighthealth.com.

Value-Based Care: Meeting the Expanding Fiscal Challenges with Value

Dr. Paul Pritchard serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Prevea Health in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Prevea employs more than 500 clinicians and 2,000 employees, providing primary and specialty care in clinics, hospitals, and workplace settings across northeast Wisconsin.

Dr. Pritchard has been with Prevea for more than 25 years. Over the past decade, he's transitioned from full-time internal medicine to lead Prevea's quality department. Now as Chief Medical Officer, he maintains a small practice in internal medicine and remains the clinic's specialist in treatment of adult cystic fibrosis.

His priorities include population health management, strategic patient care planning, and progressive work with controlled substance guidelines. Dr. Pritchard earned his medical degree and completed residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin and holds an MBA in health care administration from the University of St. Thomas.

Value-Based Care: Meeting the Expanding Fiscal Challenges with Value

Dr. Krista Skorupa is the East Market President at Essentia Health, an integrated health system serving patients in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. She is responsible for operational, financial, and clinical excellence in the East market, overseeing St. Mary’s Medical Center—the region’s only level-one trauma center—regional hospitals and clinics, long-term care facilities, and post-acute services in Minnesota and Wisconsin. She also chairs Essentia Health’s Physician and Provider Compensation Committee and the Accountable Care Organization board.

With more than 18 years of leadership in urban and rural nonprofit integrated care delivery systems, she most recently served as Essentia Health’s senior vice president for regional practices. She earned her medical degree from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, completed her residency at the University of Minnesota St. John’s Family Medicine program, and holds a Health Care MBA from the University of St. Thomas.

Her professional interests include system integration and transformation, leadership development, operational efficiency and practice management, and public health care policy and advocacy.

Value-Based Care: Meeting the Expanding Fiscal Challenges with Value

Innovators in Health Care: The Next Generation

Dr. Madison is a practicing neurointerventional surgeon with 28+ years of experience treating intracranial aneurysms and acute stroke interventions. He currently serves as CEO of Thanacare, a deathcare software platform he founded in 2020. Since launching, Thanacare has expanded to 32 states outside of Minnesota, providing dignified, person-centered end-of-life care.

Previously, he was Board Chair of the Allina Integrated Medical Network, a clinically integrated network of 4,600 physicians in Minnesota. He also served as president and CEO of Midwest Radiology, the fourth largest independent private practice radiology group in the United States, for 12 years. Dr. Madison has been selected as a Top Doctor 18 times, and currently practices with HealthPartners.

Innovators in Health Care: The Next Generation

For more than a decade, Thompson Aderinkomi, MS, MBA, has been a leader in delivering solutions that solve the two biggest problems in health care--access and affordability. Thompson is the CEO and co-founder of Nice Healthcare, a technology enabled integrated care clinic that delivers all care in the comfort of the patient’s home. Nice Healthcare contracts directly with small employers, and has grown more than 300% since 2020. In March 2022, Nice Healthcare closed a Series A of $30 million.

A tireless advocate for driving systemic change, Thompson co-founded Healthcare.mn, an organization for healthcare entrepreneurs that has grown to over 2,000 members. In 2013, Thompson was appointed to the inaugural board of directors for MNsure, the Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange by Governor Mark Dayton. Thompson also serves on the board of Youthprise.

Thompson earned a BS in economics, MS in statistics and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management in Minnesota.

Innovators in Health Care: The Next Generation

Dr. Torres has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He led the development of a novel MRI approach that drastically cuts costs without sacrificing clinical value, which became the platform technology for Adialante, and is an inventor on over 10 patents. He leads Adialante as its CEO and under his leadership, Adialante raised $1.5M from grants and investments, designed its first product, and has become revenue-generating.

Health Care AI Use Cases: Outcomes, Lessons Learned, and a Path Forward

Brenna Loufek is the Director of AI – Regulatory & Quality at Mayo Clinic’s Center for Digital Health. She leads a team that guides innovators to demonstrate safe, effective, and ethical use for their digital health solutions as they move through the AI lifecycle from development to deployment. She is the administrator for Mayo’s internal SaMD Review Board, which evaluates applicable health policies for AI software before implementation.

A leading expert in the field of regulatory affairs for AI-enabled digital health technologies, Loufek contributes to numerous publications, courses, and presentations. She collaborates with the Health AI Partnership (HAIP) and engages with the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) and the Center for AI and Digital Policy.

Loufek holds a master’s degree from the Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality program at Johns Hopkins University and is pursuing a doctorate in evidence-based health care at the University of Oxford.

Health Care AI Use Cases: Outcomes, Lessons Learned, and a Path Forward

Dr. Leyla Warsame is the Associate CMIO of Digital and Advanced Clinical Decision Support. She practices as a hospitalist at M Health Fairview St John’s hospital in Maplewood, Minnesota. She completed her residency training at Harlem hospital and clinical informatics fellowship at Geisinger Health. She is part of the Artificial Intelligence efforts at M Health Fairview and working to advance their clinical decision support capabilities and digital front door. She is faculty of the Clinical Informatics Fellowship at the University of Minnesota and at the Clinical Informatics Board Review (CIBRC) course at the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA).

Health Care AI Use Cases: Outcomes, Lessons Learned, and a Path Forward

With over 26 years of dedicated experience in the health care field, Laura Beasley has worked in various roles that span the breadth of the health care industry. She started her journey as a medical assistant in South Dakota and later becoming a registered nurse, specializing in perioperative and travel nursing. After leaving the hospital setting, she embraced her passion for higher education and leadership, assuming roles of responsibility that included shaping the next generation of nurses in both classroom and clinical settings.

Beasley earned her associate degree in nursing from the University of South Dakota and pursued her baccalaureate and master's degrees in nursing from Keuka College in New York. She recently earned her Doctorate in Education (EdD) from Winona State University in October 2024. As a professor in the School of Nursing at the University of St. Thomas, she plays a pivotal role in shaping the minds and futures of aspiring nurses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Health Care AI Use Cases: Outcomes, Lessons Learned, and a Path Forward

Justin Grammens is a lifelong learner, passionate about software development, artificial intelligence, and driven by giving back to the community through entrepreneurship and education. He is the founder and CEO of Lab651 and Recursive Awesome, where teams consult clients to leverage AI and build custom software applications to bring efficiency and automation to their business.

Grammens is a board member at Code4Pro, providing technical strategy for the development of an AI platform that measures first responders' biometric stress levels in real-time. He also serves as president and co-founder of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Applied AI, creator, producer, and host of the Applied AI Podcast, owner of Applied AI Weekly News, and an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas.

Closing Keynote: Back to the Future? Embracing Technologies to Return to Patient Centered Care

Andy Truscott is a consulting executive with extensive health care experience and a strong track record in launching and growing technology practices.

Recognized globally as one of Accenture’s leading experts in solving the most complex technology problems, his experience includes full life-cycle system development and implementation, strategy and architecture development. He currently serves on the Health IT Advisory Committee for the U.S. government and is a board member of the international standards organization HL7.

Specific areas of expertise include IT strategy, security, architecture planning, digital architecture, infrastructure and portfolio optimization, complex systems delivery, and IT organizational strategy. He has served, and continues to serve, in advising on Health IT Standards development, implementation and adoption around the globe.

Truscott is recognized for his straightforward approach to health care, operations, information technology, and consulting. He balances a no-nonsense approach with a ready appreciation for the role health care professionals and patients have in the operation and innovations of a successful health care system. Throughout his career he has demonstrated a clear compassion for improving patient outcomes and benefiting whole populations in sickness and in health.

CEOs: Leadership for New Challenges

Dr. Cumming is a health care executive with over 25 years of clinical and leadership experience, who has worked to improve the value of health care delivery through efficiency, quality, and financial sustainability. Dr. Cumming spent his clinical career as a general and critical care surgeon, with a specialty interest in emergency general surgery. His executive experience includes serving Hennepin Healthcare System as the President of the Medical Staff and Vice President Medical Affairs for several years, followed by Board appointment to the role of system CEO and Board member. He has held regional and national leadership roles in trauma and clinical care delivery. Dr. Cumming holds additional positions as Principal, Q/C Healthcare Consulting and Trustee of a regional health care system. He is also a proud graduate and adjunct faculty at the University of St. Thomas Health Care MBA program.

Keynote: Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Coming Health Care Revolution

Jennifer Boese, Director of Health Care Policy & Innovation at CLA, is a highly successful public policy, legislative, and advocacy leader with extensive experience in the government and the private sector. With over half of her career dedicated to health care policy, she possesses a deep understanding of the health care market, organizations, and stakeholders.

At CLA, Boese provides thought leadership, policy analysis, and strategic insights to health care providers, focusing on market innovations and emerging payment models. Her advocacy efforts at state and federal levels have spanned various policy areas, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and 340B. Boese thrives in creating innovative programs and structures to align with organizational goals, leveraging her persuasive communication skills and passion for empowering others to work towards a common mission.

Innovators in Health Care: The Next Generation

Ryan Johnson, a shareholder at Fredrikson and adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas, is a corporate health care attorney with over twenty years of experience representing health care companies in a wide variety of transactional and regulatory matters. He serves as outside general counsel for many of his clients, co-chairs Fredrikson’s Life Sciences Group and teaches law and policy in the Health Care MBA program at the Opus College of Business.

Health Care AI Use Cases: Outcomes, Lessons Learned, and a Path Forward

Kjrk Reyerson began his health care technology journey at HealthEast and Hennepin Healthcare prior to joining UnitedHealth Group and Consulting. Kjrk is also a Managing Consultant for Tegria Services Group where he leads digital health care strategy and planning.  As a St. Thomas Executive MBA alumni, he is grateful to continue his support of St. Thomas through his ongoing instruction where he teaches health care innovation and project management.  To complement his technical certifications, Kjrk is also finishing his PhD in Business and Technology.

Value-Based Care: Meeting the Expanding Fiscal Challenges with Value
Closing Keynote: A Look at Global Health

With a record of strategic and financial leadership spanning decades throughout his career, Joe White brings a wealth of expertise. While a Partner at CliftonLarsonAllen, a top eight nationally certified public accounting and consulting firm, he helped steer organizations with insightful and financial direction. His consulting experience extended to feasibility studies, performance improvements, and orchestrating mergers and acquisitions for health care providers.

A Clinical Faculty member at the University of St. Thomas since 2016, White has facilitated learning experiences focused on financial innovation and capstone projects for mid and upper-level management professionals. A trailblazer in health care innovation, he has led international trips and organized conferences discussing the future of health care. He holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Minnesota.