Bending the Cost Curve

Post by:
Simon Cook
Health Sector MBA 2013

One of the things I’ve most enjoyed about being an MBA student at BU is the access to interesting business leaders and experts. One such example was the recent ‘Bending the Cost Curve’ event, part of the Health Sector Management Speaker Series. It was a panel discussion between Dr. Andrew Sussman, President of CVS Minute Clinic (and BU SMG alumni) and Dr. Ralph De La Torre, President and CEO of Steward Health Care, moderated by our own Dean of the School of Management, Ken Freeman.

The event was well attended by many alumni of the program, and our entire class from HM710: Health Services Delivery. The talk was so relevant to class that Professor Restuccia amended our syllabus so that we could take in the event.

Both guests started the talk by giving us a brief introduction to the companies they run. It was clear that although retail clinics and hospital systems are very different, the innovative ways these two are tackling the business of health care have a lot in common. We aren’t going to ‘bend the cost curve’ with a magic bullet, but ideas like these might help.

The subsequent discussion was interesting because it not only reinforced what we were learning in class, but also gave us some insight into what it’s like to be at the top of a rapidly growing organization. Dr. De La Torre in particular gave me the impression that it was like trying to steer a runaway train – making quick but vital decisions at every moment!

On a personal note, I was particularly interested in listening to Dr. Sussman. During the fall semester I was part of a team working on a consulting project for CVS Minute Clinic. This project was for the highly recommended HM840: Health Sector Consulting elective. Only two and half weeks after this talk, we were sitting in Minute Clinic’s meeting room in Rhode Island presenting our final report to Dr. Sussman and his colleagues. Thankfully they seemed impressed with our work!

Simon is a 2nd year full-time Health Sector MBA student and the VP of Marketing for the Health Services Management Association student club. He has experience working as a Project Manager at a large hospital in London, England and is looking to expand his career in Healthcare Administration.