Stephen Klasko, MD
Transformative Leaders & Advocate for Revolution in Healthcare, Education and Health Disparities; Former CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health
SPEAKER FEE RANGE: $12,000–$20,000 [FEE NOTE]
TRAVELS FROM: Florida
• Executive in Residence, General Catalyst
• Global Innovation Ambassador, Sheba Medical Center, Israel
• Distinguished Fellow, World Economic Forum
• Former President and CEO, Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health
•Appointed by President Biden with senate confirmation to the National Board of Education Sciences.
•Started his career as DJ “Stevie Kent”
• Global Innovation Ambassador, Sheba Medical Center, Israel
• Distinguished Fellow, World Economic Forum
• Former President and CEO, Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health
•Appointed by President Biden with senate confirmation to the National Board of Education Sciences.
•Started his career as DJ “Stevie Kent”
Stephen K. Klasko, M.D., M.B.A. is an author, an entrepreneur and a believer in the creative and optimistic transformation of healthcare and higher education. He has been a CEO, a university president, and a dean of two medical colleges. Currently he is pursuing his passion to bridge academic health centers with the emerging world of digital medicine and innovation. As President of Thomas Jefferson University, he directed a merger between an almost two century old health science university and a nationally ranked university for design and architecture, heralded by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the “few successful mergers between academic entities.” As CEO of Jefferson Health, he presided over the growth of the system from $1.5 billion to $9 billion including the acquisition of Health Partners Plan, making Jefferson the first integrated delivery and financial system in Philadelphia history.
His most recent book, “Feelin’ Alright: How the Message in the Music Can Make Healthcare Healthier” uses music and creativity to tackle some of the thorniest issues in healthcare, academics and health equity. His fifth book (with Hemant Taneja of General Catalyst) in 2021, “UnHealthcare: A Manifesto for Health Assurance” has become the manual for both founders and health system CEOs for bringing together the venture capital world with the traditional healthcare ecosystem and has been translated in several languages.
Dr. Klasko serves as an Executive in Residence at General Catalyst, North American ambassador for Sheba Medical Center in Israel, and as CMO and Operating Partner of Abundant Venture Partners. He is also the lead independent director of Teleflex, a seventy-year-old NYSE medical device company. In 2022, President Biden appointed him to the National Board of Education Sciences.
Over the past five years he has been awarded by Fast Company as one of the “top 25 most creative people in business,” by Modern Healthcare as the “#2 most influential person in healthcare” and by Ernst and Young as the “entrepreneur of the year.”
He lives in Miami with his wife Colleen Wyse, a fashion executive with senior positions in Vogue, W and Glamour.
His most recent book, “Feelin’ Alright: How the Message in the Music Can Make Healthcare Healthier” uses music and creativity to tackle some of the thorniest issues in healthcare, academics and health equity. His fifth book (with Hemant Taneja of General Catalyst) in 2021, “UnHealthcare: A Manifesto for Health Assurance” has become the manual for both founders and health system CEOs for bringing together the venture capital world with the traditional healthcare ecosystem and has been translated in several languages.
Dr. Klasko serves as an Executive in Residence at General Catalyst, North American ambassador for Sheba Medical Center in Israel, and as CMO and Operating Partner of Abundant Venture Partners. He is also the lead independent director of Teleflex, a seventy-year-old NYSE medical device company. In 2022, President Biden appointed him to the National Board of Education Sciences.
Over the past five years he has been awarded by Fast Company as one of the “top 25 most creative people in business,” by Modern Healthcare as the “#2 most influential person in healthcare” and by Ernst and Young as the “entrepreneur of the year.”
He lives in Miami with his wife Colleen Wyse, a fashion executive with senior positions in Vogue, W and Glamour.
- The Courage to Change: A Soundtrack (for leadership)
If there’s anything I’ve learned in 40 years as a dean, CEO and president, it’s that we each need our own toolbox for an optimistic future. I recently retired as president of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health to pursue my passion for using technology to reduce costs and address health disparities. As I step away from a career as dean of two medical schools, CEO of three academic health systems and president of a university, these are my reflections on that toolbox for optimism. My message to you: Make sure your toolbox is full. My toolbox has always included music.
I’ve been a DJ for 50 years and a doctor for 40 years, so every Friday during the pandemic, I sent a playlist to our employees to remind them that art and music and humanity are still alive and well, despite the tough times each of us was experiencing. What I said repeatedly to my employees: We should listen to “The Message in the Music” (the O’Jays, lyrics by Philly’s own Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff). When I left Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, I gave an interview to the Philadelphia Business Journal based on songs in my toolbox, that I want to share with my colleagues and friends in the industry. - Is There an Avatar in the House?
The revolution that needs to happen in medical education and training to ensure that machine learning and computers become members of teams where the humans get to focus on the human questions. - Health Assurance in 2031: From COVID to Consumerism
This talk speaks to payor-provider alignment in the MA space.
It’s March, 2032. A mutant strain of an RNA encapsulated virus has been afflicting people in Australia. Of course, people old enough to remember, especially healthcare workers, the dark days of early 2020 and the COVID 19 crisis immediately panicked….for a second…and then they smiled. Because they knew healthcare had evolved from a broken, fragmented, expensive, inequitable “sick care” system to a “health assurance” system where there is payor-provider alignment and much of a patient's care happens at home.
We are witnessing healthcare’s “Amazon moment.” If you are a provider and think you’re going back to a business model solely based on hospital revenue and not relevant to people who want care at home, you will be out of business. If you are an insurer and think you can just be the middle man between the hospital and the patient, you’ll be irrelevant. If hospitals believe that innovation can just be this cute little thing that they do in the background, but the real business is getting “heads in beds” they will never recover from the pandemic of 2020-2022 losses. This keynote will highlight several post pandemic strategies, including:
1) New creative partnerships between community partners, health systems and payors as we move from “sick care” to “health assurance.” The fragmentation between payors and providers was replaced by a "radical collaboration through vehicles such as Medicare Advantage
2) The fastest growing demographic, seniors, redefined health provision through demanding and receiving healthcare in an understandable and connected manner. We will cite the results of the first "patient owned, primary care driven health system in a large senior community."
3) How providers handle data today will make or break patient trust in the future.
4) Technology can start to address health disparities but it must be applied strategically.
5) The most prized skills for physicians will be empathy, communication and self-awareness in the digital age.
6) How population health, predictive analytics and social determinants move from philosophy to the mainstream of clinical care, payment models and medical education. - Why The Digital Revolution Cannot Simply Make the Wealthy Healthier.
Technology gives us an unprecedented opportunity to bridge the divides that threaten our society – if we have the determination to make it happen. - Healthcare at Any Address.
How shifting the locus of care to the home gives people control of their own health, and allows clinicians to engage families and even communities in keeping people healthy.
“I would like to thank you once again for participating at our 2018 AMS Phoenix Conference. Your keynote was thought provoking and engaging, and your participation in the closing panel of the event was very positively received by the conference participants, and there was extremely positive feedback on social media.”
-CEO, Associated Medical Services
“As the opening speaker for our annual conference, Dr. Stephen Klasko needed to set the bar high for our three-day event—and he did not disappoint. His use of humor and pop culture references had the audience completely engaged, and his clear message and thoughtful presentation provided valuable insight for the attendees to bring back to their companies. Dr. Klasko was everything you want in a Keynote speaker and more. Simply put, he was exceptional.”
-Director of Operations, Texas Association of Health Plans
“Dear Dr. Klasko, I want to thank you for serving as the keynote speaker for our Texas Covered Conference + Expo last week. Your presentation on the future of health care was entertaining (I always appreciate a Star Wars reference) and informative, and it really set high expectations for the entire event. We could not have asked for a better speaker. Thank you so much for coming and being exceptional.”
-CEO, TX Association of Health Plans
-CEO, Associated Medical Services
“As the opening speaker for our annual conference, Dr. Stephen Klasko needed to set the bar high for our three-day event—and he did not disappoint. His use of humor and pop culture references had the audience completely engaged, and his clear message and thoughtful presentation provided valuable insight for the attendees to bring back to their companies. Dr. Klasko was everything you want in a Keynote speaker and more. Simply put, he was exceptional.”
-Director of Operations, Texas Association of Health Plans
“Dear Dr. Klasko, I want to thank you for serving as the keynote speaker for our Texas Covered Conference + Expo last week. Your presentation on the future of health care was entertaining (I always appreciate a Star Wars reference) and informative, and it really set high expectations for the entire event. We could not have asked for a better speaker. Thank you so much for coming and being exceptional.”
-CEO, TX Association of Health Plans
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