Having spent the first part of my career at a generic pharmaceutical company, I had a reasonable understanding of what it takes to get a product to market and really enjoyed the challenge pharmaceuticals presented. I knew that post MBA, I wanted to go back into the industry so I came to Fuqua primarily for the HSM program. My goal was to round out my expertise in the US healthcare market, but what I didn’t realize was how much was left to learn and just how quickly that education would begin.
On the first day of bootcamp, our professor, a medical doctor by trade, asked the class to always consider the question “who is going to pay”? This was totally new to me. In generics, the answer to that question was simple and consistent- everyone would be willing to pay because we were the most affordable option. But the story on the branded side was much different. In order for providers to pay, or doctors to recommend new products, innovators must present a case for incremental benefit.
This was just the first of my “ah-ha” moments during bootcamp. Between lectures and casual conversations with my classmates, I learned how big the market was not just in the United States, but globally. I was tested and challenged to go beyond my experience, asked to leverage my own interactions with the health system, and pushed to think critically about how health, social and societal factors, as well as cost, play into decisions. We examined healthcare around the world to see what worked, what didn’t, and perhaps most importantly, why there is no “one size fits all” model.
Once the week wrapped up, I spent some time reflecting on the conversations and discussions I participated in during boot camp. I compared the takeaways to my professional experience and reexamined my interactions with the healthcare system. Amazingly, the question of “who is going to pay” was central to everything I had experienced, I just didn’t have the right framing to realize it. Personally, I had been making tradeoff decisions about visiting the doctor when the cost was my personal time. Professionally, I realized that our customers had been choosing between the long trusted brand name and a lower cost generic.
With even more distance between bootcamp and now, I can cite two significant changes in my world view. First, on a more tactical level, I approach healthcare situations by trying to first understand the flow of money through the system. Secondly, on a more macro level, I have tried to step back from problems and consider different framing of the question. Overall, the bootcamp was extremely enriching and I am thrilled I attended.