Is the Healthcare Industry in a “Sputnik Moment”?

There are few certainties in life but, inevitably, we will all be consumers of health care at some point. Whether it’s the birth of a child, catching a case of the sniffles or taking care of a loved one, the healthcare system will touch every one of us at some point in our lives. Despite its ubiquity, the system remains plagued by inequities and inefficiencies, but these challenges also present significant opportunities for improvement and innovation.

This was the guiding principle of UCLA Anderson’s 11th Vitals conference, a sold-out event that explored the groundbreaking discoveries defining the future of healthtech. Organized by the student-led Healthcare Business Association, Vitals set out to spark conversations and inspire action in response to how data and AI are rapidly changing what’s possible when it comes to healthtech innovation.

The student-led Healthcare Business Association organizes Anderson’s annual Vitals conference

The MBA journey is also full of uncertainties. One thing I knew for sure when I started mine was that I wanted to join the HBA to meet like-minded students and explore what leadership looks like in this sector. As president of the HBA, I’ve done a lot of reflection on the type of leader I want to be, and what leadership means in the context of healthcare. Leadership in this sector isn’t just about working toward business goals and managing teams; it’s about cultivating a vision for meaningful change and inspiring our members to become visionary leaders once they graduate and take on roles in the industry.

We were fortunate to be joined at Vitals by an incredible array of visionary leaders. We invited clinicians, entrepreneurs and corporate executives to discuss breakthroughs and roadblocks on the journey to transforming healthtech. Leading voices in venture capital and healthcare finance joined the conversation to talk about the future of healthtech investing.

Our keynote speaker, Jodie Lesh (’92), managing director of life sciences and health care at Deloitte, declared, “This is our Sputnik moment.” Despite no shortage of challenges in our industry, there is also an undeniable sense of hope and excitement about the transformative power of new technologies as we reach a critical inflection point.

Anderson alumna and former chief health officer at Oracle Nasim Afsar (’17) moderated a panel addressing AI in healthtech

Lesh outlined how professionals in the industry can steward its advancement and reach their own potential:

• Imagination: We need creativity and bold ideas to reshape and rethink existing business models.
• Collaboration: Solving healthcare’s biggest challenges will require deeper collaboration across disciplines.
• Equity: Health equity is a moral and business imperative.
• Optimism: Change is only possible if we believe in it. Despite the challenges ahead, optimism fuels innovation.
• Healing: Trust in the healthcare system has been fractured. Rebuilding trust in healthcare requires transparency and integrity.
• Unwinding: We need courage to unwind and dismantle outdated structures and push for systemic reform.
• Reinvention: We cannot accept incremental change. We have to go above and beyond!

This year’s Vitals conference was a textbook demonstration of imagination, collaboration, optimism and equity. By opening up the conversation and bringing together the leaders of today and tomorrow, we were able to use our platform to transparently discuss the challenges and opportunities for reinvention that the industry so desperately needs. The time for reinvention is now and, as future leaders, we’ll need to be the ones to step up and lead the charge toward a healthier, more equitable world.

Emma Yu (’25) is an MBA student with a background in medical communications and biomedical sciences. Specializing in healthcare marketing, she serves as the 2024–25 president of UCLA Anderson’s Healthcare Business Association.

Enjoy photos of the 2025 Vitals conference