A founding partner at global consultancy Guidehouse, Alicia Harkness was named the leader of its health segment in July 2020. She is passionate about positively impacting the health care ecosystem by enabling access to care; improving health equity and patient experiences; designing cost-effective care delivery models; and efficiently fast-tracking the release of lifesaving drugs and therapies to the market.
In transitioning to her expanded role amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she remained focused on leading public and private sector organizations with various mission-critical initiatives through the uncertainty.
“From response efforts to vaccine development and return-to-the-workplace strategies, we have worked tirelessly with our clients to ensure they can continue to effectively serve their patients, communities and employees,” Harkness said.
In doing so, the Guidehouse Health team has supported a range of government agencies as well as health systems, payers, employers, life sciences companies and other organizations in improving clinical, financial, operational and societal outcomes, Harkness said. This includes dramatically reducing the time to market for vaccines and helping veterans choose life over suicide.
Why Watch
In 2021, Harkness is focused on future-proofing organizations for the evolving health care environment. Under her leadership, the Guidehouse Health team brings together clinical, operational, technological and analytics capabilities and expertise from diverse commercial and public health backgrounds to solve the industry’s most complex challenges.
Facing a collapsing fee-for-service environment, price transparency, amplification of health equity, cybersecurity vulnerability, new drug acceleration and increased reliance on digital health, Harkness has built an integrated team with deep industry partnerships to deliver informed solutions across the health care value chain.
“We are focused on mastering these trends in payment, operational and consumer disruption, as this is key for health care organizations to build healthier communities while achieving sustainable margins, growth and innovation,” she said.