Washington, D.C. health policy strategist Jennifer Higgins will present, "Waiting for Disruption: A Health Care System on the Brink," a lecture sponsored by the Medical and Health Humanities Program (MHH) at Misericordia University on Monday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Catherine Evans McGowan Room of the Mary Kintz Bevevino Library. It is free and open to the public.
Higgins is a partner at Chamber Hill Strategies, Washington, D.C., a public policy and consulting firm regarding federal legislation and political strategies. She helps corporate executives navigate the changing legislative and regulatory landscape. During her time in the nation's capital, she has represented a wide variety of Fortune 500 companies before Congress and the Administration, serving as principal and partner with two prominent lobbying firms. She also served as an advisor to senior agency officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
During her presentation, Higgins will discuss changes underway in the health care marketplace, such as technology innovations involving data analytics and the consumer-oriented offering of more services directly to patients that will change the models of health care service that have been in use since the Hill-Burton Act of the 1940s.
"Ms. Higgins's lecture addresses the growing challenges of health care in a technologically-advancing society," said Amanda Caleb, Ph.D., director of MHH. "Existing and emerging models of health care, including value-based health care, raise ethical questions about the patient-centered nature of health care delivery and directly relates to our Medical and Health Humanities program, which focuses on making meaning of the individual's experience of health and illness."
Higgins holds a B.A. in medical economics and ethics from Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina. She also holds a certificate in legislative studies from The Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Misericordia launched its Medical and Health Humanities academic program in 2016. It offers an interdisciplinary approach for students who are interested in careers in the humanities fields, as well as health care and medicine. The program offers Bachelor of Arts degree-level tracks in Medical and Health Humanities, Pre-Law Medical and Health Humanities and Pre-Doctor of Physical Therapy Medical and Health Humanities, as well as a minor that complements an array of academic programs at Misericordia.
For more information about Misericordia University Medical and Health Humanities program, please call (570) 674-8113 or visit www.misericordia.edu/medical humanities.