HBSHAA Conference Key Takeaways

November 3, 2023 was a proud moment for the HBSHAA co-founder Bunny Ellerin as she reflected on 24 years since the founding of this organization. Reflecting back to that moment in HBS history when healthcare industry careers were not even a thing, it took courage and a strong vision to start something that bold and maintain it after so many years. Fast forward to today, and health care is in every industry segment. Whether you enter consulting, investment banking, VC/PE, retail, or consumer tech, AI/ML careers, you are bound to be serving the health care vertical in some shape or form. Given HBSHAA is one of the largest alumni organizations at HBS, the potential for alumni to join, contribute and gain from this community is huge. Again don't forget, we will be in healthcare in one way or the other in your career just given how many cross-sections are happening! In fact we talked about the convergence of MS, MBA and MD degree programs at Harvard the night before the conference. As an electrical engineer turned business woman, I am all about such convergence and interdisciplinary approaches to health care innovation!

Now onto some short and key takeaways from each panel in the day-long conference agenda...

Leadership lessons from Marc Fischer - HBS Alumni Leadership Award Winner

1. Lessons in M&A - "We don't acquire broken companies"… so make the acquired company get a voice and feel like contributors based on their combined tenue rather than being Day 1 at Thermo Fischer.
2. Dealing with global crises and role of business - Sometimes it's best to stay quiet but still to the right thing behind the scenes without making a show.
3. Career advice - In your first 5 years post business school, find a manager that can take a chance on you and protect you and give you honest and critical feedback to learn and grow. In the next chapter after that, focus on making everyone else around you more successful.

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Generative AI panel

1. AI is not new, so what has changed? Movement from descriptive, prescriptive, predictive, to generative. Key unlock of knowledge management. "This isn’t just researching the web, but combining with other data sets like 20 years of targets tried and tested by J&J for example. We finally can unlock "If only J&J knows, what J&J knows!" Democratization - 100million users in six weeks.
2. Key to AI adoption - It is not about AI, it is about people, culture and the ways we work. Data scientists have to have a voice at the table and be integrated in every project team. But that starts with having one vision, one voice, and starting with the right use cases that can't be vetoed and will have relatively quicker ROI.
3. Parenting / career advice? - Probably still a great idea to go to college, however learn critical thinking skills while using GenAI in education. For example, instead of learning to code, learn how to fix and debug code that GenAI created. Instead of writing an essay, learn to think what prompts were used to generate the essay GenAI created. GenAI is undoubtedly going to change everything we do and how we do it, just like internet changed every industry. Learn how to be a power-user, and make it a good assistant.

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Private Equity in Healthcare

1. Quite a somber outlook in deal activity due to interest rates, inflation, recession. In a 2 by 2 of ability to pass on recessionary and inflationary pressures, provider sector fairs poorly in both sides and is squarely in the top right. More investments in HealthIT and life sciences where there is relatively better prospects right now.
2. Only silver lining - software company valuations are finally coming down to realistic levels, good time to buy if you are a strategic investor with healthy cash position.
3. Key to value generation of PE companies to weather the storm - ensure your portfolio company is continuing to lower cost or increase revenue aka drive ROI for its customers tangibly.
4. PE backed provider organizations need to be careful to balance growth with quality and provider satisfaction tradeoffs. Compelling to think if you can drive organic growth in a sector that has slow organic growth, without sacrificing time with patient or other quality factors.

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Obesity treatments panel

1. Why so much debate? We don't question giving statins, drugs, surgeries for other diseases that have lifestyle implications or benefits, so why not treat obesity? It is due to our bias and stigma. Obesity is a chronic disease. As an example, an employer with $70million in annual benefits costs this year will see an increase of $43million in costs from coverage these drugs alone. Without guardrails, that would be an increase in premiums for every employee by $4000!!!
2. Does it work? Critical piece of data coming from long 5 year trial next week. But basically while lifestyle only drop 20% of weight in 10% of patients, GLP1s drop 20% weight in 60% on patients. 20% weight loss is when patients also see decrease in cardiovascular events, kidney disease, and remission of diabetes!
3. Who foots the bill? Employers. This is still not covered by Medicare and only by some State Medicaids. While the costs will be outrageous, without guardrails, there is a way to provide this benefit to employees.

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Provider sector tidbits:

1. Provider sector is seeing unprecedented shortages of labor, but yet very few AI applications and technologies have shown a tangible impact on workforce or decreased burden / fatigue.
2. Digital health companies are actively pursuing commercial strategies with plans and employers over providers as providers are fatigued in trying solutions while sellers are fatigued with long sales cycles and lack of decision-maker and budgets.
3. We have a real crises coming up as society due to the frail nature of health systems as COVID incentives go away. Most financials are dependent on 340B margins that are always under regulatory risk and scrutiny OR commercially insured procedures that are declining rapidly due to aging of population (move to Medicare and Managed Medicare) and VBC shifts driving readmissions down and shift to ambulatory.?

Serving providers in my role everyday, the last few comments really had me thinking and reinforced my commitment to our mission in enabling IT spend management as well as being an effective convener of value between health systems and solution providers.

However, coming full circle to Marc Fischer's words, sometimes the thought of a long term legacy as a person or as in industry is so daunting, you just take it one day at a time!