HSG Celebrates its 4th Year!

Post Written by Jason Helgerson, Founder & CEO

To celebrate the first four years of HSG as a firm, we asked Founder & CEO Jason Helgerson to share his reflections and what the future holds.

When I founded HSG in 2018 after 7 years as New York’s Medicaid Director, the firm was exactly as the name described–THE Helgerson Solutions Group–in other words it was just Helgerson. Today, we are a team of 14 with a variety of deep knowledge and skill sets, living and working on three continents, serving a wide range of exciting clients. With our growth, we have greatly enhanced our ability to serve our clients, and add value to the health and social care systems. I couldn't be prouder of how far we have come. 

With that context, I am pleased to present my Top Ten Lessons Learned from HSG’s First 4 Years:

#10 – Healthcare is truly global: If the pandemic taught us anything it’s that what happens in China matters in New York and vice versa. While COVID-19 still impacts us every day, we need to start acting and thinking differently when it comes to global efforts to improve health. While I’m an eternal optimist, I am disappointed that we haven’t yet made bigger strides in this area.

#9 – Value based health care is here to stay: I was enthusiastic about value based care as a Medicaid Director. I am even more enthusiastic today as a consultant and investor. I’m blown away by the amount of energy, capital, and brainpower being poured into both value-based contracting and the new care models. We still have a way to go, but I remain very excited.

#8 – Medicaid is great…but healthcare is far bigger than Medicaid: I always thought I had a broad view of the American healthcare system as a Medicaid Director. Now that I’m on the other side, I see that the health care world is much bigger than I expected and that there is a lot of innovation happening in other aspects of the delivery and payment systems. 

#7 – Health care investors are extremely important when it comes to innovation: Investors often get a bad rap when it comes to health care–I don’t dispute the fact that there are challenges, but I also see the vast opportunities. In the past, all the money in health care was locked up in hospitals and insurance companies. This left doctors/providers and patients at their mercy. Private capital is helping to level the playing field and fund innovative new care models that would never have been funded before. Of course, we must be vigilant to prevent abuses, but I for one welcome investment capital.

#6 – Healthcare is a design, logistics, and systems problem: Improving health care can often seem darn near impossible. The reason lies in the complexity of the system and the nature of the problem. First, we must see health care as a design challenge and be willing to redesign the system to get better results. Next, we need to understand that most healthcare challenges are complex logistical challenges involving lots of actors and fractured supply chains. Lastly, we need to remember that it’s a system problem that requires systems thinking. Far too often solutions are developed and implemented in a silo and shockingly don’t work. 

#5 – Lots of data but too few insights: I guess I have always known that health care was awash in data, but what I under-appreciated was how little usable insight is actually garnered. While the reasons are many – outdated privacy laws, provider/payer siloes, lack of analytical capacity, antiquated IT systems – this represents an opportunity; with more and better insights we can absolutely do better for patients. We at HSG have made this a major focus of our work with our clients. 

#4 – We don’t do enough to engage the consumer: Note I don’t use the word “patient.” While the health care consumer is central to the effort to improve outcomes and lower costs, our system’s end user is unfortunately often the last actor to receive any attention. Value based care for example is still far too provider/insurer focused. We need to engage individuals and families far more effectively through fantastic UX, member incentives, and flat-out better care if we are ever to achieve the Triple Aim.

#3 – Lots of talk about health equity… need more action: The Biden Administration should be praised for making health equity a priority. Many of us have worked on this issue for many years. Everyone from states to payers to providers to patient advocates are responding in positive ways. That said we need more tangible action. The new Medicare ACO REACH program is the first new care model out of CMS with a clear equity focus. While the new model is promising this effort must go much further. 

#2 – We need more REAL innovation: Innovation is a massively over-used word in health care and I too am guilty of using it too often. In most cases “innovation” is really just incremental improvement. We need more true innovation. That said, I’m not down on incremental improvement. We can’t hit home runs every time; sometimes a single or double is exactly what is required. That said, we need more big ideas and we at HSG are committed to helping our clients go big.

#1 – Everyone in health care can make the world a better place: I have seen time and time again with our clients how they are solving meaningful problems every day and as a result improving the health and well-being of the people they serve. We can make the world a better place. Together, we absolutely can build a better, brighter future.

As this list implies, I haven’t lost my optimism about the future. I do believe that together we can design and then create a better health & social care system not only in the United States but around the world. It won’t happen on its own, and it will require all of us to roll-up our sleeves and chip in with our ideas and hard work. I’m so glad that HSG is a growing part of this global movement and look forward to many more years of working to make our world a better place.

Interested in working with HSG? Drop us a line!

About the Author: Jason Helgerson is the founder and CEO at HSG. Follow him on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.