We look forward to a new year and new opportunities for innovation and growth in the government contracting community. This past year, we experienced an increased emphasis on big data, insider threat, merging technology with healthcare, and the internet of things, among others.
WashingtonExec reached out to those most knowledgeable and experienced in the federal contracting space. We asked executives in and around the Beltway for insight on the direction they see the government contracting community heading in 2018. Topics discussed include M&A activity, public/private sector collaboration, cloud computing, the incoming millennial workforce in defense/IT/health care, talent retention and more.
Next in the series is Jerry Hogge, senior vice president, defense health & international for Leidos. Hogge is the general manager of the team that works with health care customers on projects focused on system quality and effectiveness.
Here are his insights:
At Leidos, we believe that delivering the highest-quality health care to our nation’s military, our nation’s veterans and their families and beneficiaries is always a top mission priority. As the state of the art in medical technology and treatment continues to advance, so do the complexity and challenges facing patients as they navigate our nation’s health care system.
This complexity is most pronounced for those patients with the most serious medical conditions. Informed by data analytics, we believe that care coordination — customizing and managing each patient’s course of treatment — before, during and post an acute health event, will become an increasing focus for improving the quality, efficacy and cost efficiency of healthcare in the United States.
We see Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Department growth in spending on key areas as an emphasis on DOD spending and care for our nation’s veterans remain top federal priorities. We see favorable spending trends across federal health care in general.
2018 is likely to continue the highly competitive market pressures experienced in 2017 as Congress struggles with key legislative issues, federal funding and the national debt ceiling. Even without these market pressures, finding, developing and retaining the very best talent is essential to market success. Add the pressures created by a well-organized set of highly competitive companies, small, mid-sized and large, and finding, developing and retaining the very best people become even more important. At Leidos, we strive to do our very best in all three areas, placing focus and great care on the careers of everyone at Leidos.
At Leidos, we have seen important and successful collaboration between public, private and academic sectors through the use of various approved means for joint research and development. Leveraging the incredible talent that exists across these three sectors is essential to maintaining United States leadership in technology innovation, to improving the state of the art across all industry sectors, and driving economic growth.
The most important piece of advice I would offer to the next generation of federal health care/health care IT leaders is to focus on the customer’s mission, and make their mission your mission. This alignment creates a natural clarity of thought, drives collaboration and aids in effective performance.
I would also offer the very simple advice that patience is a virtue. Doing business in public markets, whether local, state or federal, necessarily involves a myriad of processes and procedures that public buyers are required by law to follow. If you aren’t accustomed to those processes and procedures, it will be difficult to forecast and manage your business and may lead to less than optimal results.