With extensive experience spanning both hospital and group practice settings, healthcare executive Mark Mantei, will reflect on his professional journey and offer insights into how our current healthcare system evolved. He will engage the audience in examining whether the future holds an evolution or a revolution, as the industry grapples with increasing complexity and pressure. The session will conclude with a discussion on the role of leadership in driving meaningful change toward a more effective and equitable healthcare system.

• Gain insight into the current state of the U.S. healthcare system and its major challenges
• Identify the primary factors that have shaped today’s system
• Explore potential strategies for reform and meaningful improvement
• Recognize how leadership can influence and guide positive transformation

Burnout is more than a personal crisis—it’s a systemic risk with serious financial and operational consequences. The departure of a single primary care physician can cost an organization over a million dollars, and specialists even more. Burnout is a leading driver of this turnover, eroding clinical capacity, service quality, patient safety, and experience. In this session, Dr. Steve Strongwater draws on real-world leadership experience to explore actionable strategies for reversing this trend and rebuilding a resilient clinical workforce.

• Explore how mismatches between job demands and clinician capabilities contribute to burnout, and what leaders can do to redesign workflows accordingly
• Examine clinician turnover’s direct and indirect financial costs to build a strong business case for investing in well-being initiatives
• Learn how cultivating trust across teams and at the organizational level can drive immediate and long-term engagement and retention improvements

Many healthcare systems are investing in clinician wellbeing, resulting in significant improvements in practice efficiency and clinician resilience. Burnout rates are beginning to decrease, but most organizations still record clinician burnout rates of 40% or more. What’s missing to achieve true breakthrough improvement? A management system and culture transformation, owned and led by the CEO.

This session will present the current state of leadership engagement, explain why and how senior leadership engagement makes a difference, and provide specific actions that CEOs and their teams should take to create healthy clinical workplaces that drive success across all key performance metrics.

• Learn the impact of different management approaches on the drivers of burnout
• Examine the frequently unappreciated role that senior leaders, especially the CEO, have in changing organizational culture
• Identify key activities senior leaders can implement to create a culture of empowerment and alignment in which clinicians and their organizations thrive

Healthcare leadership takes many forms, and while physician leaders bring a distinct perspective, their experiences offer universal lessons in navigating change, building relationships, and driving impact. This panel brings together C-level leaders who began their careers in clinical practice and evolved into system-wide leadership roles. They’ll share their motivations, the personal and professional shifts they encountered, and the strategies that helped them succeed and stay fulfilled.

• Explore key motivators and leadership pathways in healthcare, especially from clinical starting points
• Understand the interpersonal and organizational challenges that come with transitioning into leadership roles
• Gain practical insights and strategies from experienced leaders on driving positive change in complex health systems