Podcast 125: Discussing the Past, Present, and Future with Scott Becker

Episode Summary

In this episode of Health Care Rounds, John talks with Scott Becker, founder of Becker’s Healthcare, about how Scott turned a marketing effort to build his fledgling law practice 30 years ago into one of the industry’s fastest-growing media platforms. They also discuss how the pandemic has upended strategies that health systems have had in place for the past 10 to 15 years, leading to “a huge ecosystem change,” and why they will need to incorporate topics like health equity and digital consumer health into their strategies going forward.  

Episode Notes

2:07 - 2:13 Scott: “It was originally sort of a hobby and a marketing effort to develop a brand in health care.”

16:22 - 16:25 Scott: “So I understood the niche marketing concept, being in a niche within health care.”

19:10 - 19:18 Scott: “It wasn’t until 7-8 years ago when we started, you know, really thinking about this as a serious business, where somebody said, ‘Oh, you’re in business-to-business media.’”

24:28 - 24:51 John: “I just get the sense that there’s still this antagonistic relationship between pharmacy and Pharma. … Pharma has not been able to demonstrate the value that they bring to the table.”

26:02 - 26:14 Scott: “There’s this constant issue with pharmacy officers of, ‘Are we getting the right drugs, or ... is somebody pushing us drugs that don’t really make a difference but have a huge impact on the cost?’”

27:59 - 28:03 John: “I think people are willing to pay for the game changers, [but] not so much for the ones where there’s that marginal benefit.”

32:58 - 36:16 Scott: "How do you mix in your strategy some of the things that were sort of ignored or not brought to the front as strong as they were before, like health equity and making sure that you’re a lead on health equity, not just in revenue on fee for service and your five great service lines?”

Scott Becker is the publisher and founder of Becker’s Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review. He is also a CPA and a partner and former board member of the law firm McGuireWoods, where he served as chair of the national health care practice for more than 12 years. Scott is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

John Marchica, CEO, Darwin Research Group

John Marchica is a veteran health care strategist and CEO of Darwin Research Group, a health care market intelligence firm specializing in health care delivery systems. He’s a two-time health care entrepreneur, and his first company, FaxWatch, was listed twice on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing American companies. John is the author of The Accountable Organization and has advised senior management on strategy and organizational change for more than a decade.

John did his undergraduate work in economics at Knox College, has an MBA and M.A. in public policy from the University of Chicago, and completed his Ph.D. coursework at The Dartmouth Institute. He is a faculty associate in the W.P. Carey School of Business and the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University, and  an active member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

About Darwin Research Group

Darwin Research Group Inc. provides advanced market intelligence and in-depth customer insights to health care executives, with a strategic focus on health care delivery systems and the global shift toward value-based care. Darwin’s client list includes forward-thinking biopharmaceutical and medical device companies, as well as health care providers, private equity, and venture capital firms. The company was founded in 2010 as Darwin Advisory Partners, LLC and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz. with a satellite office in Princeton, N.J.

CONNECT WITH US:

🌐 Visit us on the web

🌐 Follow Health Care Rounds on LinkedIn

🌐 Follow Darwin Research Group on LinkedIn

📺 Watch Health Care Rounds on YouTube

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts

🎧 Listen on Spotify

⚙️ Health Care Rounds is produced by Grippi Media

‍