In the mid-20th century, Joseph Schumpeter, the noted Austrian economist, popularized the term “creative destruction” to denote transformation that accompanies radical innovation.
Wednesday saw the return to the University of Vermont campus for Springfield native Chris Durovich, ’79, who spoke to the nature of that transformation for his industry, healthcare. Durovich spoke to a large crowd for the Hoffman Family Business Lecture Series, hosted by the Grossman School of Business at the Ira Allen Chapel.
The Hoffman Family Business Lecture Series provides opportunities for students to learn about innovative business practices from leading scholars and practitioners.
As President and Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Health in Dallas, Texas, Durovich has more than 30 years of leadership experience in adult and pediatric healthcare and physician practice management.
Since becoming President and Chief Executive Officer in 2003, he has guided Children's Health to be the eighth-largest pediatric healthcare system in the nation, serving more than 280,000 children each year.
His insights into life, business philosophy, and being a leader in a business undergoing seemingly constant change, held the audience rapt as he outlined his approach to managing disruptive change and keys for success.
From outlining the current state of healthcare, its' economics and changing cost drivers, to highlighting the accelerating nature of disruption across various industries from businesses such as Spotify, Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, Netflix and Tesla, he framed the impact, nature and speed of the challenges facing his own industry.
Challenges such as the convergence of science, technology, and the innovation they are sparking, coupled with rapidly changing patterns of consumer behavior – better, faster, cheaper with more than choice than ever – how they are driving his organizations strategy out into the future.
But amid these issues, Durovich stressed the need to focus on fundamentals and several core ideas.
That mission matters, strategy is about choice, scale is paramount, to find value through differentiation, consumers have to be at the forefront and innovation is key, and while the implications of these changes are profound and will impact the thinking of how hospitals evolve, how they are staffed, and how they deliver care, it is imperative that organizations do not lose sight that major transformation creates great risk and great reward, and the ethical lens through which these changes are implemented will be of utmost importance.
Durovich also hosted a working breakfast with a select group of Grossman students, met with UVM Medical Center and Larner teaching leadership, as well as UVM president Sullivan.