Todd Saxton

Associate Professor of Management
Vice President for Business Development, Regenstrief Institute

“May you live in interesting times.”

Many of us recognize this phrase to be less of a birthday wish and more of a curse. We certainly live in interesting times: regulatory changes, the aging of our population, global pandemics and new technologies all intersect to affect how healthcare is practiced. Changing reimbursement models have resulted in mass industry layoffs, and consolidation of the marketplace continues as smaller practices are acquired by larger organizations. All of these factors create challenges—but also opportunities—for the educated and informed physician innovator.

For Kelley Associate Professor of Management Todd Saxton, helping companies develop competitive strategies and thrive in uncertain times like this has been a hallmark of his career.

“Strategy is not about just being operationally efficient and cutting costs,” says Saxton. “It’s about learning how to enter new arenas, take on new business or service lines, and develop new business models. Hospital systems need to be thinking about their business more strategically than they’ve ever had to before. This means learning from other models and markets, as well as identifying successful strategies from within healthcare.”

Doctors are going to have to start thinking about the broader business, which is something that they haven’t really been pushed to do before. If they want to continue to contribute to the organization, and understand how they fit in, they need to understand how they’re contributing to the economic vitality of the organization.