Microsoft and HBA: Promoting the impact of women in healthcare
Microsoft Health is proud to announce its Corporate Membership in the Health Businesswomen’s Association (HBA), a global nonprofit organization comprised of individuals and organizations from across the healthcare industry.
This membership is part of Microsoft’s outreach to include and support women in healthcare, from those at the beginning of their careers through the C-Suite.
Earlier this month, we engaged with more than 800+ HBA members at the HBA Annual Conference in Washington, DC.
Key Takeaways from the HBA Annual Conference
- Women made history on Election Day. It was empowering to be with 800+ women in DC and hear NPR National Political Correspondent, Mara Liasson, deliver the event keynote and discuss her views on what the mid-term elections mean for women in the workplace as well as gender parity in politics and drove this message home. Regardless of the outcome or your political affiliation, this year’s election felt extra special because a record number of women across the country were running in for office. Let’s look at the numbers, 390 women ran for the House of Representatives, a figure that’s higher than at any point in American history. Twenty-two of the candidates are non-incumbent black women — for scale, there are only 18 black women in the House right now. Meanwhile, 49 women ran for the Senate, more than 68 percent higher than the number who’d announced at the same point in 2014.
- Gender Parity is an important topic, and one that the HBA is driving for its members every day. This year’s event included a session on Gender Bias in the Workplace, and the topic was hot with attendees throughout the day, including from those who visited our booth. Organizations pursuing gender parity and diversity will reap the benefits of increased revenue, decreased costs, maximized profits, as well as more effective employee recruitment, improved employee retention, and an enhanced corporate image.
- AI can be a game changer for healthcare. AI is everywhere. The question is how do we use it to help reduce costs, create better healthcare solutions for patients, empower our clinicians to do more, and improve health outcomes? At Microsoft, we believe AI and the secure cloud have the power to transform health organizations. Steward Health Care, the largest privately-held health care network in the US, recently used AI to predict how long a patient would stay in a hospital and develop potential treatment plans to accelerate care and treatment, saving the organization $48 million a year. As we continue to evolve our work in AI, our partnership with our customers, HBA and our partners will continue to help us identify new and exciting ways to apply technology to help solve some tough problems in healthcare.
HBA’s Mission for Women in Healthcare
The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) is a global not-for-profit organization dedicated to furthering the advancement and impact of women in the business of healthcare. HBA supports initiatives including achieving gender parity in leadership positions, facilitating career and business connections, and providing effective practices that enable organizations to realize the full potential of their female talent. The HBA accomplishes its mission through strong business networks, education, research, advocacy, and recognition for individuals and companies.
The HBA serves nearly 10,000 members in diverse sectors of the healthcare industry including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, marketing, contract research, payer organizations, consulting and other firms. The association offers award programs for Rising Stars through Woman of the Year, reflecting the importance of women in the field no matter where they are on their career path.
Follow Microsoft in Health on social media to get live updates from us at the event.
