I’ve been remiss in not congratulating Pat Sullivan on his new position as head of PMSI’s Ancillary Services Division. [opens pdf] Pat’s a long time friend and colleague, and is one of those people universally respected for his business acumen, breadth of experience, and depth of character.
PMSI had been looking for a leader for Ancillary Services for several months (if not more), had carefully considered several candidates and took pains to ensure they picked the right person to lead a business that has been described by sources as critical to the future of the organization.
Over the near term, I’d expect an important part of Pat’s new role will be to solidify PMSI’s position as the third largest provider of MSA services. With the announcement in December of the sale [opens pdf] of industry leader Crowe Paradis (for $90 million to Verisk), the MSA vendor business is once again in the spotlight. I’d expect the top companies in the space, (Crowe, PMSI, and perhaps a couple boutique firms) will push ahead of their smaller/less agile/less technically adept competitors. The business is becoming increasingly capital-demanding and reliant on strong IT, and the downside of not ‘getting it right’ is getting more painful every month.
I didn’t include Gould & Lamb in that list, as I’ve heard several times they’ve had challenges on the technical side that may have contributed to the management shakeup last fall. We’ll have to wait and see if the issues are resolved.
These are indeed interesting times in the MSA business; CMS appears to be getting the message about reporting and AWP and other lines (liability et al) are starting to think about their exposure. The insular nature of the business and many of the companies in it has led to far too much internal focus and nowhere near enough consideration of how – and where – MSAs can best ‘fit’ into the vendor/supplier.
I’m expecting that will change.
What does this mean for you?
Nice to know good guys succeed.
Disclosure – PMSI is NOT a consulting client. They – and seven other PBMs – are members of CompPharma LLC.
Jan
17
Joe
I want to echo your comments on the news of Pat Sullivan’s move to PMSI. I too have had the distinct professional pleasure of working with Pat and know him to be a highly talented leader and executive. He brings a high level of credibility and a dynamic business savvy to all that he does. I expect PMSI will see the fruits of their investment in Pat to pay many dividends.