Echo Health Ventures was honored to host the 2024 Echo Summit earlier this month in Durham, North Carolina. In attendance were about 90 leaders from Echo health plan members, Echo portfolio companies and the Echo team. Throughout the two-day event was one underlying goal: join together through a shared vision to make a meaningful impact on the health care experience.

In the health care industry, “we try to (solve industry problems) unilaterally and we don’t get very far, and we claim that health care is hard,” said Echo CEO Rob Coppedge, speaking to Summit attendees. “The way we actually make progress, we believe at Echo, is by doing it together, amongst all of you, with other partners and stakeholders. We think we can actually make progress if we invest up front in the relationships, so we have the trust to come at these things as partners and not just as vendors and not just as clients.”

In attendance were the CEOs of most of Echo’s 32 portfolio companies, leaders from Echo’s four health plan members (Cambia Health Solutions, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee) and the Echo team, helping to facilitate connections that will lead to better care for the 11 million people our member health plans serve over seven states.

Connection was paramount. Health plans and portfolio companies that are already working together talked about highlights and challenges. There were hours of one-on-one conversations between health plans and portfolio companies about how they could enter into new partnerships.

Health care is changing, especially with the long tail of the pandemic. Providers are consolidating while they still face financial headwinds. The U.S. population is aging. The cost of care continues to rise. Attendees at the Echo Summit are well positioned to help deliver health care solutions that will make care more affordable, accessible and personal.