Chapter 08: Adapting a Consulting Business to MD Anderson Needs

Chapter 08: Adapting a Consulting Business to MD Anderson Needs

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Description

Ms. Hay begins this chapter by explaining that when she was CEO of the Proton Therapy Center, she became interested in international consulting and set up a company, ProBeam, with some partners.

She then talks about her decision to come back to MD Anderson as Assistant Vice President of Global Business Development , a move that resulted in ProBeam being integrated into MD Anderson and a focus on international and national business opportunities. She talks about refining the mission of the consulting initiative and explains work with a client, Albert Einstein Hospital, in Brazil.

Identifier

HayAC_01_20150204_C08

Publication Date

2-4-2015

City

Houston, Texas

Topics Covered

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - Building the Institution; Building/Transforming the Institution; Multi-disciplinary Approaches; Growth and/or Change; Activities Outside Institution; Beyond the Institution; The Business of MD Anderson; The MD Anderson Brand, Reputation; Entrepreneurs, Biotechnology

Transcript

Amy Carpenter Hay:

So as that was coming together, I also, within protons, got very interested in doing international consulting for protons and national consulting. And, in fact, to—started a company. It was called ProBeam. And I had the ability to do that at the time, because I was working for the Proton Therapy Center. And we had amassed six or so clients on a national and international basis—just pure consulting, helping them develop proton-therapy systems. But we started seeing that they didn’t really only want protons. They wanted all of oncology; protons was just a component. And as that matured, it became clear that if we really wanted to expand this, not only business, but also Anderson, I needed to come back into the Anderson fold. So, as luck would have it, right about that time my boss and mentor friend, Mr. Mitch Latinkic, invited me to come back to MD Anderson, and to be his associate vice president for global development.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Just a quick question: Had you considered not coming back to MD Anderson?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Honestly, no. And the reason why is, I wasn’t ready yet. I had a lot to learn. I was engaged, but I didn’t have the full complement. I had not—while I had participated in negotiations and, you know, been at the table, I had not ever done that by myself. And I think, you know, my exposure in kind of a startup company with ProBeam, while it was so much fun and, you know, you have so much flexibility, you also don’t have MD Anderson behind you. And what became clear over time is that these clients—they were delighted to have me and ProBeam, but they really needed more. And I could never give them more if I wasn’t part of Anderson. And so, it was more of a natural direction back to Anderson. It just made sense. It was—so we collapsed ProBeam into MD Anderson. Those just became MD Anderson contracts, and the company went away And we started really focusing on opportunities nationally and internationally. We already had the regional centers, you know, up and running. They became on the business side, underneath our purview, run by the divisions. We had expanded those, and we folded our relationship with Turkey into that book of business. We also, during that timeframe while I was at protons, the Division of Radiation Oncology had constructed another radiation relationship in Albuquerque, and that was part of the portfolio. And then we set a s—our sights on converting our consulting clients into some sort of a more in-depth relationship with MD Anderson. That led us to building up that consulting book, and really looking at what’s the long-term play? You know, what do we want these consulting clients to be, long-term? Consulting is great. It’s definitely mission. We’re extending our knowledge. But is that what we should be doing? Should it be more than that? A great example of that would be, during those early years, I became very involved with Albert Einstein [Hospital], in Brazil, in São Paulo. And we did consulting with them for years—five years—through MD Anderson. And really created a multidisciplinary approach to care in São Paulo that doesn’t exist. But it took five years of consulting to get them at a point where they were ready to expand our relationship, to make it much more clinically focused, and to really integrate them with our doctors.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

What are some of the—tell me a little bit about the process. You know, ’cause—I mean, I’m just imagining that multidisciplinary care can be some—I mean, at the very least, is something kind of complicated for people to get their heads around, at least the way MD Anderson practices it. So, you know, as you’re establishing these conversations with the people at Albert Einstein, you know, what are the phases that that conversation takes?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

You know, in the—in the beginning, it’s generally more of a business discussion. It’s, you know, what is the status of your program now? What do you hope to accomplish? But then it very quickly becomes a clinical engagement. You know, the best relationships are anchored to clinician relationships, meaning a clinician at MD Anderson fully involved with clinicians at Einstein, and working with the directly on multidisciplinary care, peer-to-peer reviews, whatever the case may be, but having that connectivity. So, in Albert Einstein, over the years Dr. Deborah Kuban, who is a GU [genitourinary] radiation oncologist—fantastic leader at MD Anderson—she became my key clinical partner in that relationship. And she would work directly with the doctors. She would bring in other doctors in different disciplines and connect them. And that’s really the glue that makes this work. You know, I often tell people in my role that, over time, I can construct a business deal around anything. There’s nothing you can give me that I can’t figure out the business side. But that means absolutely nothing if the doctors are not engaged and integrated back in Anderson. You can have the prettiest financial pro forma you want, but if the doctors aren’t talking, and they’re not engaged and working together, the relationship’s not going to work. And that’s one of the cornerstones that I’ve learned in this place over time. And it means—from a business perspective, it means you can never fall in love with a deal. It means that most good deals fall apart two or three times. But the ones that make it are deals that you never have to look at the contract, because they’re deals where you are so fully in partnership that the clinicians are talking every day. And that you’ve developed that rapport that is so important.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

So what do they talk about, one-on-one, with these—

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Cases—patients, patients. You know, it’s—delivering multidisciplinary care, the approach. It’s patients. It’s case reviews. It’s tumor boards. It’s talking about research. You know, what research are you doing? What am I doing? How can we extend clinical trials from here at MD Anderson to you? And what makes sense? But it really centers around the patients.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Hm. And setup of the organization, too? I mean, have—so—I mean, how does that all fit? You know, because I’m—can imagine that the way that certain institutions work, you know, at other cities or other countries may not be entirely—you know, at a structural level—

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Mm-hmm.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

—there may have to be some alterations in order to deliver care in a particular way.

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