HHS Summit at Harvard: Moving Toward the OneOffice Endgame

Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies are dealing with some of the most difficult issues that face society—issues such as poverty, mental illness and child abuse. At the same time, these agencies are driven, measured, and often funded through regulatory bodies. They face what often seems like a challenge at odds with itself – meeting regulatory requirements and creating safer and healthier communities by being “generative” organizations. A recent forum at Harvard University brought senior leaders from federal, state and local agencies together to discuss how to reconcile these two in a vision for the future of health and human services, and what can be done to create safer and healthier communities.

Throughout the two days of conversation, the unifying theme that resonated was a laser-sharp focus on improving the quality of the services these agencies provide. These conversations got right to the heart of the matter—what can government organizations really do about creating a better future for the individuals and families they serve?

This PoV summarizes the highlights of the event and its discussions, and describes HFS’ viewpoint on using the As-a-Service ideals to move toward OneOffice for Health and Human Services government organizations and its ecosystem.