Inside the Ntracts Advisory Council meeting in Atlanta, where health system leaders and clients help shape what we build next.
You usually see the finished product: a new release, a new feature, a better way to manage contracts, compliance and policy. What you don't always see is how those ideas get tested before they ever reach you.
That's what the Ntracts Advisory Council (NAC) is for. Think of it as our test kitchen. Health system leaders from compliance, legal and clinician services sit down with our executive team and tell us what's working, what isn't and what they need next. We treat the council as an extension of our own leadership team, because the people who live with these challenges every day see things we can't see from our side of the table.
On September 23, the NAC gathered in Atlanta for its annual in-person meeting. Here's a look inside.
Why Atlanta
Atlanta's a strong and growing market for us, with clients and partners all over the city's healthcare community. So, we went to them. Holding the meeting there put the conversation right in the middle of the community we serve.
Pull up a chair
This year, for the first time, we invited clients from outside the council to join us and to sit in on the day's sessions. The thinking was simple: more perspectives at the table means more ways to look at the same problem.
The guest speaker
Our guest speaker was Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, the Robert W. Woodruff Professor in Emory's Department of Health Policy & Management. Before his years in academia, he served at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he worked on the financial estimates behind President Clinton's health care reform proposals. He's also testified before Congress on health care reform and insurance, and he still does.
His featured session, The Next Five Years in Healthcare, looked at the economic, policy and payment trends every health system should be planning for. A fireside chat with our CEO, David Paschall, followed.
From big picture to next steps
The day kicked off with a question for everyone at the table: what's the one issue on your radar that you think will significantly impact healthcare over the next two to three years?
From there, the agenda moved from big-picture trends to practical next steps. Healthcare M&A got its own session, covering both the broad picture and the tactical considerations. There was a look at our AI releases and roadmap, and a session on positioning CLM for supply chain.
What happens next
The conversation doesn't end when the meeting does. The NAC is a critical part of our strategic planning, and what members tell us shapes how we understand customer needs, pain points and what to build next.
Thank you to every NAC member, guest and Ntracts team member who made the trip. The test kitchen only works when people tell us what they really think.
