Student Spotlight: Jim Huffman

In a nutshell, what is your job title and responsibilities?

My title is Head of Benefits, but in simple terms, I’m responsible for the strategy, design, and oversight of employee benefit programs. Everyone thinks about health insurance coverage and 401(k) retirement savings, but there’s more to the value proposition that attracts and retains a workforce. A major part of my responsibility is to develop programs that promote health and wellbeing.

If you had to pick one area, which aspect of your role gives you the greatest satisfaction?

Hearing from an employee or their family member who takes the time to let our team know that one of our benefit programs has helped them or made a difference in their life. We design these programs to help people, and hearing that feedback makes it all worthwhile. It’s also rewarding to work with early-stage companies and share perspective on how large employers think about their benefit programs and make the ultimate ‘buy’ decision. There is so much new innovation and venture capital coming into this space right now, and having an opportunity to help shape some of that development is exciting.

Why are you excited about the MS in Health Care Transformation Program?

I’m really excited to learn about new perspectives, new ideas, and new solutions to the challenges that people in my role have been facing for a number of years. Specifically, I’m looking forward to hearing from others outside of the typical ‘buy/sell’ decision process who have a common goal of transformation. We need health care programs that can be measured and will deliver value beyond performance guarantees and service level metrics.

What types of solutions do you hope to achieve or make progress towards through this program?

Imagine a scenario where all stakeholders—the patient, the patient’s family, the provider, and the organization paying the bill—are confident that value has been achieved. We can build upon some of the successful examples that have been developed, but now is the time to mainstream this approach and go big!

Anything else you want us to know about you or your health care journey?

I enjoy being active, and distance running is one of my passions. Running helps me to stay healthy, but more importantly, it has opened my eyes to how important it is to stay ahead of minor issues or injuries. Stretching and core and strength work are critical to minimizing the risk of an injury. There’s a lesson here that I think about in my day job about how can we ‘prevent’ many of the health issues that surface. If we think about this with a population health perspective, I think we can create a significant impact on society.