Agenda

Noon – 12:45 p.m.

Welcome lunch

12:45 – 1 p.m.

Introductions and program overview

1 – 4:30 p.m.

Leading effective organizational change

Elizabeth A. “Beta” Mannix, PhD, Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Management, SC Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

Leading through change is one of the most important challenges facing leaders and one of the most common problems for organizations. From moments of opportunity to times of adversity, high-performing leaders guide their organizations through challenges and change. Successful leaders understand how to open people’s minds to move past the obstacles that stall new ideas and innovation. They coordinate teams across diverse, cross-functional knowledge areas and engage and motivate technical experts. In this session, we will use various techniques, including industry examples and interactive simulations and exercises to explore this topic. We will identify change traps and derailers and focus on the critical competencies needed to accelerate successful change.

4:30 – 5 p.m.

Capstone orientation

Throughout The Academy you will apply your learning to a self-directed capstone project that addresses an issue specific to your organization. This comprehensive approach provides a valuable return on investment by applying solutions developed in the classroom to a real challenge — completing a project that can be applied within your organization.

5:30 – 7 p.m.

Reception and dinner

7:30 – 8:30 a.m.

Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – noon

Strategic negotiation

Stephen Sauer, PhD, Senior Lecturer, SC Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

Healthcare professionals must understand how to manage conflict. Physicians may have difficult conversations with insurers or patients, nurses must manage their teams or clinicians from other departments and administrators may find themselves negotiating internally or externally with providers.

In this session, we will cover everything from understanding your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) to refining your aspirations in response to the other party’s needs and tactics. We’ll use interactive, real-world negotiation simulations to help participants understand their personal tendencies in the face of conflict and learn how to manage their bargaining strengths and weaknesses. Focusing on healthcare examples, we will discuss how to manage difficult people and handle manipulative tactics, when to walk away from a negotiation and how to increase your likelihood of reaching the prized win-win solution.

Noon – 1 p.m.

Lunch

1 – 4:30 p.m.

Strategic negotiation | Part 2

4:30 p.m.

Dinner on your own in Ithaca

7:30 – 8:30 a.m.

Breakfast

8:30 – 10:45 a.m.

Fostering a culture of motivation, engagement and resilience

Elizabeth A. “Beta” Mannix, PhD

How can we lead with clarity, focus and purpose while building teams that can adapt and even thrive under pressure? How do we motivate, engage and drive results, yet remain open, empowering and human in the face of constant demands? Nowhere is this balance more critical than in healthcare, where leaders and teams must navigate complexity, uncertainty and emotional strain while delivering a positive patient experience, outstanding improved outcomes and efficient, affordable care.

In this session, we will focus not only on how leaders inspire performance, but how they help individuals and teams sustain energy, learn from setbacks and remain effective in the face of ongoing challenges.

10:45 – 11 a.m.

Break

11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Making it real: Positioning for success

Steven I. Goldstein, President, System Integration Strategy, UR Medicine

Due to federal and state healthcare reform initiatives, chief executives must grapple with the challenges of today’s climate while taking steps to manage change. In New York, leaders must operate in a highly regulated and politically active environment, be conscious of issues ranging from workforce to shifting reimbursement and maintain a positive operating margin — all while ensuring their facilities deliver the best patient care. This session will include a candid assessment of the current healthcare landscape and the challenges faced. Discussions will also cover leadership questions and strategies and what management teams can do to keep healthcare provider institutions on a path to success.

12:30 p.m.

Closing comments and adjournment

Box lunches will be available.

3 – 5 p.m.

Influencing policy and politics in an uncertain landscape

Cristina Batt, Senior Vice President, Federal Policy, HANYS

Amy Nickson, Senior Vice President, State Policy, HANYS

With just over half of New Yorkers covered by Medicare or Medicaid, state and federal policymakers play an outsized role in how patients receive care and how providers are reimbursed. Hospitals and health systems face a national healthcare worker shortage, unprecedented expense increases, fewer places to safely discharge patients, stagnant infrastructure, market changes that leave hospitals increasingly serving only the sickest and most vulnerable patients, and political uncertainty at the federal and state levels.

Compounding these challenges is H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will result in at least $8B in Medicaid cuts once fully implemented. This law, coupled with ongoing policy changes at the state and federal levels, will fundamentally alter how New Yorkers access care.

This session offers context and perspectives on the forces shaping our dynamic healthcare landscape and helps healthcare executives assess and understand the political environment and how it impacts care delivery in their communities.

3 – 5 p.m.

Value-based care: Concepts, perceptions and reality

Victoria Aufiero, Esq., Vice President, Insurance, Managed Care and Behavioral Health, HANYS

Alyssa Dahl, Vice President, Advanced Analytics, DataGen^®, Inc.

This session will cover alternative payment models and their impact on care delivery and coverage design. Faculty will explore the historic trajectory of value-based care, different types of value-based payment models and what the data say about these payment arrangements. This session will highlight the most important VBC concepts, lessons learned after a decade of models tested and new initiatives.

3:30 – 5 p.m.

Quality and patient safety in a dynamic healthcare environment

Colleen McVeigh, Principal Healthcare Informatics Analyst, HANYS

Kathleen Rauch, RN, MSHQS, BSN, CPHQ, Vice President, Quality Advocacy, Research and Innovation, HANYS

Quality and cost performance are under increasing scrutiny from regulators, payers and the public. Hospitals face significant financial, regulatory and reputational risks tied to quality and patient safety outcomes, with expanding reporting requirements and payment implications. To manage these risks effectively, executives must understand the quality and patient safety reporting environment, assess organizational performance against key benchmarks and ensure improvement efforts are strategically aligned, operationally sound and results driven.

This session will provide hospital executives with a practical overview of quality reporting requirements, performance improvement frameworks and patient safety methodologies. Leaders will learn how to translate data into actionable insights, prioritize high-risk and high-impact opportunities and integrate quality and patient safety strategies into day-to-day operations to drive measurable, sustainable improvement.

3 – 5 p.m.

What is your hospital market and how can you protect and expand it, compete and survive?

Jeff Gold, Esq., Special Counsel, Insurance and Managed Care, HANYS

Cara Henley, Managing Principal, Health Management Associates

Hospital executives need to understand various market forces’ current and projected impact on their organization to effectively manage operations and plan for challenges and opportunities. As a leader, you must weigh factors such as regional characteristics, case and payer mixes, traditional and non-traditional competitors, potential partnerships with payers and other providers, and more. During this session, we’ll review such factors and strategies to help you ensure your organization effectively serves your mission and community while being set up to survive and thrive.

3 – 5 p.m.

Building a technology strategy for today’s healthcare

Thomas Hallisey, Director, Digital Health Strategy, HANYS

A focused, comprehensive technology strategy is crucial for healthcare organizations as we move to a digital environment. Technology decisions are more important than ever, impacting an organization’s ability to run efficient operations, provide quality care, enhance a limited workforce and compete in a crowded and consumer-focused marketplace. We’ll review the tools available and how to deploy them to meet the demands of modern medicine. We will also review how the latest technologies are not only necessary in today’s healthcare landscape but are changing how healthcare is practiced.

3 – 5 p.m.

Building talent pathways and pipelines

Karen A. Scott, MS, HRD, Director, Learning and Development, University of Rochester Medical Center

Stephanie Von Bacho, EdD, MS, RN, NEA-BC, Senior Director, Learning and Development, University of Rochester Medical Center

We are all feeling the impact of the current job market — the lingering effects of a global pandemic, ongoing staffing shortages and a competitive job marketplace offering creative incentives to attract talent. The days of simply posting a job opening and counting on applicants to fill vacant positions are a distant memory.

In this session, you’ll learn about an innovative “outside in, inside up” approach to workforce development, including strategic, intentional and collaborative efforts to not only attract and retain staff but build diverse talent pipelines that support your community. We will also discuss alignment with organizational strategies and techniques for enculturation.

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Ask the experts: Live Q&A

Join us for a new session featuring a participant-driven conversation with HANYS’ experts to close out the virtual portion of the program. This interactive session gives you the mic — ask your toughest questions about healthcare politics, policy, payment models, quality, workforce challenges, marketing strategy, information technology or another healthcare topic. Our experts will share real-world insights and practical guidance, helping you connect the lessons from the virtual sessions to the realities of leading in today’s healthcare environment.

11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Welcome back buffet lunch

12:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Financial acumen

Drew David Pascarella, Senior Lecturer, Finance, SC Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

When you make decisions without financial skills, you are unable to evaluate their impact on your organization’s well-being. All members of healthcare organizations in administrative or clinical roles must have a basic understanding of their organization’s financial drivers.

The first half of our session will focus on understanding and analyzing financial statements. Participants will assess the financial situation of a healthcare business by reviewing and analyzing its income statement, cash flow and balance sheet. Then, we’ll shift to understanding and estimating shareholder value.

We will introduce participants to valuation methodologies and show how to apply these techniques to estimate the value of a range of healthcare companies to better understand the key drivers behind that value.

4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Capstone presentations part 1

5:30 p.m.

Dinner on your own

8 – 9 a.m.

Capstone presentations part 2

9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Competitive strategy/positioning for advantage

Vrinda Kadiyali, PhD, Nicholas H. Noyes Professor of Marketing and Economics, SC Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

Hospitals and health systems face intense competitive pressures. Survival means implementing effective business strategies that maximize efficiency and control costs; attract patients, physicians and other healthcare professionals; and build a strong, trusted reputation in the community. This session offers business strategies to manage profitability and address issues that arise from implementing these strategies.

12:30 – 1 p.m.

Lunch

1 – 5:30 p.m.

The critical decision-making advantage

There will be a 15-minute break at 3 p.m.

Michelle Duguid, PhD, Associate Dean, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, and Associate Professor, Management and Organizations, SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University

Decision-making and problem-solving skills are indispensable to leadership success in all roles and industries — including healthcare. Participants in this interactive session will identify traits of effective decision-makers, uncover the barriers to optimal problem-solving and develop an understanding of how to overcome these barriers as a way for individuals, groups and organizations to produce well-reasoned, compelling solutions to complex organizational challenges.

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Closing program celebration

9 – 11:30 a.m.

Conversations on leadership

Andrew L. Davis, MBA, President and Chief Operating Officer, Erie County Medical Center Corporation

Carol Gomes, MS, FACHE, CPHQ, MASCP, MT (ASCP) HTL, DLM, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Stony Brook University Hospital

Paul J. Scimeca, President and Chief Executive Officer, Glens Falls Hospital

Sandra R. Scott, MD, Chief Executive Officer, One Brooklyn Health System

During this closing session, hospital leaders will share candid reflections on their leadership journeys, the pivotal moments that shaped their careers and the lessons they’ve learned leading through complexity and change. They will offer their perspectives on today’s healthcare environment, discuss the forces shaping the future of care delivery and highlight the capabilities emerging leaders need to thrive.

Designed as an interactive dialogue, the session invites participants to engage directly with these executives — asking questions, exploring real-world challenges and gaining insight into how senior leaders make decisions, build culture and navigate uncertainty. This is a rare opportunity for emerging healthcare leaders to connect with those at the helm and translate their experiences into practical guidance for the road ahead.

11:30 – 11:45 a.m.

Closing remarks

Boxed lunches will be available.