With more than 6,000 attendees and 300 speakers, HLTH 2019 in Las Vegas was one of the health care industry's largest events of the year. Alegeus had the opportunity to attend the conference and hear from CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs about the industry's most important health care trends that are affecting consumers throughout the country. Below are five takeaways from the event that are poised to impact the industry in 2020.

1. Solutions must consider and support the consumer's total health.

The concept of "whole" or "total" health looks beyond traditional medical services to consider other factors that may impact a consumer's well-being. These social determinants of health are factors that might impede somebody from living a healthy lifestyle or accessing the care that they need, including homelessness, food insecurity, transportation, and more.

Financial wellness could certainly be considered a social determinant of health, as many consumers struggle to afford the care their family needs in light of rising out-of-pocket health care costs and other personal financial challenges. This topic is near and dear to hearts at Alegeus, given our focus on helping consumers save and pay for their health care. The average household income of a health savings account participant is approximately $74,000, so it's clear that these account-based programs can play a role in helping lower- and middle-income individuals to save money and get better value for their health care dollars.

2. Digital health solutions are evolving rapidly, but adoption and engagement are still a challenge.

You couldn't attend a session or make a new connection at HLTH without learning about an innovative new digital health solution. But, it's clear that many of those providers are grappling with the same challenges–the need for more effective engagement to drive consumer adoption and achieve desired outcomes. The most impactful solutions will meet consumers where they are, engaging them with personalized and relevant interactions through their preferred channel at the right time.

3. Artificial intelligence (AI) is front and center.

AI has been featured prominently at HLTH since its inception, and this year was no different. The ability to deliver "personalization at scale" requires next-generation, smart technologies like AI, machine learning and predictive analytics to mine large data sets and turn that information into meaningful insights.

We're highly optimistic about our efforts to leverage AI to bend the medical cost curve, harvesting insights we know about the consumer to recommend specific, actionable saving strategies and present opportunities to reduce costs.

4. Experience is everything.

The rise of digital solutions doesn't negate the significance of physical experiences. The key is bundling services for the consumer (whether physical or digital), to improve access, convenience, and outcomes–addressing the holistic patient experience.

Several prominent companies were on hand to talk about how they are bridging digital services and physical environments to transform consumer experiences. CVS Health is expanding clinics to become digital health hubs with an array of integrated health services, such as the ability to pre-order and pickup prescriptions and services ahead of a medical procedure, all ordered online in collaboration with the service provider. Walmart Health talked about their new state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary health care facility that has primary care, labs, X-ray and EKG, counseling, dental, optical, hearing, community health, and health insurance education and enrollment all under one roof with transparent up-front pricing, regardless of insurance coverage.

5. Collaboration will be imperative to impact the consumer experience in more meaningful ways.

In the health care ecosystem, there are countless companies trying to improve the member experience with point solutions that address specific challenges. But often, point solutions don't do enough to really impact the consumer experience more holistically. True transformation will require breaking down silos and collaborating with partners across the ecosystem to deliver meaningful innovation.

One example shared by a health plan leader was collaboration to improve the consumer billing experience, which is typically a major source of friction and dissatisfaction. Rather than operating in a silo to streamline their EOB document, this plan partnered with a major health network in their region and a billing solution provider to eliminate individual EOB and medical bill documentation and introduce a new experience that featured one simple, easy-to-understand billing document issued jointly by the plan and provider to give consumers a clear view of what was covered and what was owed by the consumer – eliminating consumer confusion and frustration by taking the guesswork out of the billing process.

It's clear from what we've seen and heard at HLTH that there are many brilliant leaders and innovative solutions being introduced across the health care space. It's obvious that there is tremendous potential to deliver value and help stakeholders on all sides of the health care ecosystem operate more efficiently and deliver better health outcomes. While there is certainly much work ahead, we left the conference with a renewed feeling of optimism and can't wait to see the landscape evolve as we continue our work to transform the "future of health."

Jennifer Irwin is senior vice president, marketing & strategy at Alegeus.

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Innovation, digitization and collaboration: 5 takeaways from HLTH 2019

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