Monthly Feature
Each month we ask one of our Carlson graduates or current students to write a little about their experiences in the healthcare industry. This month we have highlighted Mike Padilla and his experiences at Carlson and at ECG after graduating in 2015. We told him to focus his response in a chronological fashion and explain his experiences at Carlson both during and leading up to his selection to attend business school here..
October- Mike Padilla
CSOM MBA Class of 2015
Senior Consultant-ECG Management Consultants
As a healthcare strategy consultant, I have the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects representing what I would consider to be some of the most urgent issues facing hospital CEOs today. For example, over the past year, I have helped a hospital plan for a new ambulatory surgery center, facilitated the sale of one health system to another, and developed a three-year strategic plan for a newly constructed community hospital. It was only three years ago that I started at the Carlson School of Management, and looking back, it’s fun to think about the transformation I have gone through in that short period of time.
When I started the MBA program in 2013, I had a few years of consulting experience under my belt from my work as an analyst at a firm that strictly worked in healthcare compensation. At the time, I was in search of exposure to new areas, more responsibility, and the opportunity to have more of an impact at my position. Minneapolis has such a rich healthcare market, and I quickly discovered that I could find all of these elements in a new career while leveraging my healthcare experience. My penchant for variety and high-level problem solving led me to pursue strategy consulting, and so I spoke with alumni at UHG, Accenture, Chartis, and Healthcare Futures to learn more. Ultimately, I found the best fit at Kurt Salmon, which had a small-firm feel, a strong reputation, and people who genuinely enjoyed working with one another.
I spent the 2013 summer as an intern at Kurt Salmon, where I was able to work with consultants across the company on a number of different projects, providing input on strategies and presenting my analysis to hospital executives. I found the work to be energizing and challenging—so much so that I accepted my employment offer from Kurt Salmon without going back to on-campus recruiting. Since then, Kurt Salmon has been acquired by ECG Management Consultants in its pursuit to round out its portfolio of strategy, finance, operations, and technology services. ECG now represents the largest private, provider-focused consulting firm in the country, and I look forward to even more career opportunities with the new organization.
Granted I am not far removed from your position, but if I could offer any advice, it would be two things. First, place a premium on the people you’ll be working with. You can tell a lot about the opportunities in a new position if you can connect with individuals who want to help you and are easy to work with. Second, as you network to learn about different companies and positions, make sure you understand exactly what separates one role from another or a company from its competitor. If someone tells you he or she “analyzes market data,” do you know what that actually means? I have had multiple jobs where I “analyzed market data”, some of which I found boring and some of which were very interesting, but it was all dependent on context.
Building on this idea of understanding your role, I wanted to provide a more detailed description of one of my projects, which will hopefully inspire even more questions about potential careers in the healthcare industry.
In late spring 2016, a small East Coast health system engaged our team to review its previous strategic plan and provide a roadmap for the future. This type of assessment typically starts by interviewing system leadership and performing a detailed analysis of patient data. In order to make strategic recommendations at the highest level, we needed to understand population health needs and travel patterns, reimbursement systems and the economic alignment of physicians, prioritization of different service lines, and most importantly, whether the system could achieve its goals independently or needed a partner. While many of our recommendations could be implemented as an independent entity, the board ultimately decided to move forward with exploring an affiliation. We began the process of identifying and evaluating potential partners, most recently requesting proposals from each organization. Over the next few months, we will select a preferred organization, begin negotiation meetings, and draft the terms of the new affiliation agreement. If completed successfully, this affiliation could change how healthcare is delivered in that region for generations to come—a fact that I hope truly demonstrates the impact you can have as a consultant.
Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] if you have questions about ECG or my experiences.
CSOM MBA Class of 2015
Senior Consultant-ECG Management Consultants
As a healthcare strategy consultant, I have the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects representing what I would consider to be some of the most urgent issues facing hospital CEOs today. For example, over the past year, I have helped a hospital plan for a new ambulatory surgery center, facilitated the sale of one health system to another, and developed a three-year strategic plan for a newly constructed community hospital. It was only three years ago that I started at the Carlson School of Management, and looking back, it’s fun to think about the transformation I have gone through in that short period of time.
When I started the MBA program in 2013, I had a few years of consulting experience under my belt from my work as an analyst at a firm that strictly worked in healthcare compensation. At the time, I was in search of exposure to new areas, more responsibility, and the opportunity to have more of an impact at my position. Minneapolis has such a rich healthcare market, and I quickly discovered that I could find all of these elements in a new career while leveraging my healthcare experience. My penchant for variety and high-level problem solving led me to pursue strategy consulting, and so I spoke with alumni at UHG, Accenture, Chartis, and Healthcare Futures to learn more. Ultimately, I found the best fit at Kurt Salmon, which had a small-firm feel, a strong reputation, and people who genuinely enjoyed working with one another.
I spent the 2013 summer as an intern at Kurt Salmon, where I was able to work with consultants across the company on a number of different projects, providing input on strategies and presenting my analysis to hospital executives. I found the work to be energizing and challenging—so much so that I accepted my employment offer from Kurt Salmon without going back to on-campus recruiting. Since then, Kurt Salmon has been acquired by ECG Management Consultants in its pursuit to round out its portfolio of strategy, finance, operations, and technology services. ECG now represents the largest private, provider-focused consulting firm in the country, and I look forward to even more career opportunities with the new organization.
Granted I am not far removed from your position, but if I could offer any advice, it would be two things. First, place a premium on the people you’ll be working with. You can tell a lot about the opportunities in a new position if you can connect with individuals who want to help you and are easy to work with. Second, as you network to learn about different companies and positions, make sure you understand exactly what separates one role from another or a company from its competitor. If someone tells you he or she “analyzes market data,” do you know what that actually means? I have had multiple jobs where I “analyzed market data”, some of which I found boring and some of which were very interesting, but it was all dependent on context.
Building on this idea of understanding your role, I wanted to provide a more detailed description of one of my projects, which will hopefully inspire even more questions about potential careers in the healthcare industry.
In late spring 2016, a small East Coast health system engaged our team to review its previous strategic plan and provide a roadmap for the future. This type of assessment typically starts by interviewing system leadership and performing a detailed analysis of patient data. In order to make strategic recommendations at the highest level, we needed to understand population health needs and travel patterns, reimbursement systems and the economic alignment of physicians, prioritization of different service lines, and most importantly, whether the system could achieve its goals independently or needed a partner. While many of our recommendations could be implemented as an independent entity, the board ultimately decided to move forward with exploring an affiliation. We began the process of identifying and evaluating potential partners, most recently requesting proposals from each organization. Over the next few months, we will select a preferred organization, begin negotiation meetings, and draft the terms of the new affiliation agreement. If completed successfully, this affiliation could change how healthcare is delivered in that region for generations to come—a fact that I hope truly demonstrates the impact you can have as a consultant.
Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] if you have questions about ECG or my experiences.
Feature Archive
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July Feature - Prem Padhye | |
File Size: | 19 kb |
File Type: | docx |
September Feature - Matt Chua | |
File Size: | 616 kb |
File Type: | docx |