Who Is Behind State of Reform?

 

State of Reform is a stakeholder-driven initiative that tries to bridge the gap between the worlds of health care and health policy.  We try to develop vehicles for the dissemination of information, case studies, best practices, strategic insight, and lessons learned.

One vehicle for that information spread is this news site.  Another is our annual conference.  Another is our market-specific newsletter out each month with content focused on the individual market.  Still others are our small-run print publications, like the book, “Dear Governor: About The State of Reform.”

In short, State of Reform is about creating policy-agnostic opportunities for collaboration.  We don’t care about the particular policy outcome – each state is different, and solutions will vary across markets.

But we think that the more folks listen to one another – and sometimes talk – the better the healthcare market and policy outcomes will be.  So, we try to create online and offline forums for continued engagement and dialog.

You might have additional questions. Here are some we’ve heard.

1. Who is behind this?

State of Reform is an initiative hosted by me and our team. We now cover 11 states from Honolulu to Austin.  We are based in Seattle and have freelance and staff in state capitols across the western US to support our work.

State of Reform is, and where it will remain, a community event, a market convening all of the system’s interests, convened by a group that doesn’t has no financial interest in any specific policy or market outcome.

2. Why are you doing this?

We are a mission-driven organization that believes the tools of the digital age allow for a different form of convening, of content, and of crowd sourcing.  In many ways, we are trying to foster the social capital that exists within a trusted, transparent community.  Yet, in the health care space, there are few opportunities to foster that sort of social capital, that sense of community.

That leaves a tremendous vacuum for information and connection.  We’re trying to fill it.  Like voting, jury duty, and going the speed limit, we sort of view this as our civic duty.  It’s something we can do that some others may not, and which has a real benefit for the community at large.

So, we do it.

3. Where does your funding come from?

That’s easy:  sponsorships and registration fees.  Unlike a foundation, we don’t have a steady stream of revenue that supports this.  So, we have to charge audience members a registration fee.  Unlike a pure for-profit event company that would be smart enough to draw from a national audience, we focus our efforts on a smaller pool.

Health care is local, so we think the health care policy conversations should be, too.

So, while national events might charge $800-$2,000 for comparable events (to say nothing of travel expenses), we try to build events that allow for the broadest possible participation rate from all sectors of the industry.

In short, this initiative is about getting folks together to share their highest value content and considerations.

Or, as one of our Convening Panel members puts it, “It’s not the same group of people talking about the same sort of stuff.”

We agree.