The Health Industry Forum prides itself on its independence and its ability to present a clear, unbiased view of national healthcare issues. HIF’s value proposition for members comes from the following organizational characteristics:
Independence and credibility. The Forum is based at Brandeis University, an institution with a national reputation in health policy. Though Forum members represent industry with their own special interests, we consciously maintain a balance among different industry sectors (finance, manufacturing, delivery). Furthermore, a large segment of our Board members are independent policy experts. This gives us a unique ability to initiate non-ideological discussions of business and policy issues that have credibility with decision makers.
Unique stakeholder mix. Few organizations can effectively bring stakeholders from multiple health industry sectors together along with public policy experts and other key constituents including employers, consumers, and public officials. In addition to supporting serious policy discussions, this format provides a rich environment for networking, consensus building, and establishing new collaborations.
Right issues. With guidance from the Board we have consistently been out front of the policy community on a range of critical policy issues, including comparative effectiveness, research, payment reform, financing of specialty pharmaceuticals, and coverage policy for molecular diagnostics.
Right people. We have been successful in attracting the people who really matter for a range of different policy debates – thought leaders, decision makers, and innovative managers and scientists – and have developed a reputation for having the “right people at the table.” Our upcoming meeting on bundled payment is illustrative – we have assembled the leading innovators working on bundled payment from the payer, delivery system, academic, and federal sectors.
Starting important conversations. One of the Forum’s goals is to start important conversations which our members can continue with their own key stakeholders. We do this by carefully researching the scope of key issues and bringing together objective data and expertise to inform the policy debate in a intimate, interactive environment where participants are urged to put rhetoric aside, and focus on the real issues.