David E. Williams, president of the Boston consulting firm Health Business Group, welcomed the move by the Trump administration to lower the cost of GLP-1s.

“Employers and insurers are dropping coverage, and now there’s a lifeboat from the White House,” he said.

The point is that GLP-1s should actually be very cost effective. But prices may need to be lower and they need to be incorporated into a more holistic health program.

“I think that they're announcing it partly to show that they are staying in the game, being competitive and reinvesting,” Williams said. 

In the 2030s could mean up to 15 years in the future. But Williams said it seems the Brigham wants to be competitive now, while the significant construction projects at MGH, Dana-Farber and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center are in progress or about to begin.

“It has to be seen in that context," Williams said. 

David E. Williams, president of the Boston consulting firm Health Business Group, said MGB probably felt it could afford to lose nearly 19,000 Medicare Advantage patients because the health system is already struggling to satisfy the demand for primary care.

If the insurers objected to reimbursement rates sought by MGB, the health system likely felt it could tell them to take a walk.

“MGB is already turning away patients” for primary care, Williams said.

David Williams is quoted in the Boston Globe. CVS and MGB want to join forces to expand primary care in Mass.

David E. Williams, president of the Boston consulting firm Health Business Group, said both CVS Health and MGB likely see different benefits to the partnership.

MinuteClinic, as part of MGB, would gain cachet. “They’re not just a drug store clinic,” Williams said.

MGB, meanwhile, would benefit from MinuteClinic referring patients to the health system for other treatments and services, Williams said.

In recent years, Walgreens and Walmart set up scores of clinics in their stores, with the goal of making health care as convenient as picking up prescription drugs or groceries. But the retail giants soon scrapped or scaled back their efforts, which proved financially challenging.

“It hasn’t been too successful,” Williams, the health care consultant, said of the business model. “The theory is good, but in practice, people don’t want to get their medical care the same place they’re picking up dog food.”

Boston Business Journal (Business leaders decry hospital lobbyist on healthcare cost board)

David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group, a Boston-based consulting firm to healthcare organizations, said “the potential conflicts are significant.” In an email to the Business Journal, Williams said “it’s good” that Walsh has acknowledged his conflicts “and is taking steps to address them.”

“The real test will be whether the HPC can remain independent with someone so closely tied to the industry as a commissioner,” Williams said.

GPP’s majority investment in Eutecma supports the company’s international expansion and ongoing product innovation, helping meet the growing global demand for reliable and eco-friendly cold chain packaging solutions.

“Eutecma has built a strong reputation in Europe for high-performance, sustainable packaging,” said Eddie Hjerpe, Principal at Great Point Partners. “We’re excited to partner with the team to accelerate growth and bring these capabilities to a broader global market.”

Health Business Group conducted commercial due diligence and provided strategic insights on Eutecma’s business model, competitive positioning, customer base, and growth opportunities in the context of global pharmaceutical cold chain logistics.

“We were pleased to support Great Point Partners in evaluating Eutecma’s market position and potential,” said David E. Williams, President of Health Business Group. “As demand for reliable and sustainable pharmaceutical transport continues to rise, Eutecma is well-positioned to play a leading role.”

To learn more about Health Business Group’s strategy consulting and diligence support for private equity firms, please visit www.healthbusinessgroup.com.

About Health Business Group
Health Business Group is a boutique strategy consulting firm, which helps clients in life sciences, technology-enabled healthcare services, and private equity develop and execute innovative business strategies. Founded in 2003, the firm is staffed by highly experienced consultants with particular expertise in due diligence for financial and strategic investors. Learn more at www.HealthBusinessGroup.com.

About Great Point Partners
Great Point Partners (gppfunds.com), founded in 2003 and based in Greenwich, CT, is a leading health care investment firm with 32 professionals, investing in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. GPP is currently making new minority and majority private equity investments from GPP IV. Great Point manages approximately $1.5 Billion of capital in its private funds and public biotechnology equity strategy (BioMedical Value Fund). Great Point Partners has provided growth equity, growth recapitalization, and management buyout financing to more than 100 growing health care companies. The private equity funds invest across all sectors of the health care industry with a particular emphasis on biopharmaceutical services and supplies, alternate site care, contract manufacturing and information technology enabled businesses. The firm pursues a proactive and proprietary approach to sourcing investments and tuck-in acquisitions for its portfolio companies.

About Eutecma
Founded in 2008 by co-founders Florian Zeilfelder and Markus Baumgärtner, Eutecma (eutecma.com) is a leading designer and manufacturer of sustainable, modular, and reusable temperature controlled packaging solutions for pharmaceutical clients. The Company is headquartered in Mannheim, Germany with Refreshment Centers in the EU and U.S. Eutecma’s product portfolio is designed to be reused for multiple shipments, which enables clients to meet their sustainability initiatives while simultaneously yielding lower upfront and total cost of shipment compared to other TCP solutions. To pair with its reusable TCP solutions, Eutecma’s “retecma” program enables the evaluation of used packaging at their Refreshment Centers for evaluation and refurbishment before reusing or recycling the solutions for future shipments. This refurbishment process creates a circular economy whereby Eutecma products are reused until their end of life, at which point they are recycled creating a fully circular, sustainable economy.

Experts said most consumers won’t see immediate savings from the executive order. 

“Even if drug companies cut prices they charge wholesalers, it won’t reduce the co-pays and deductibles that patients pay,” said David Williams, healthcare business and policy expert. “So, consumers will have to look elsewhere to make up for rising overall costs.”

In addition, Williams said over-the-counter medications sold at retailers like Walmart could get more expensive, especially those using imported ingredients. 

David Williams is quoted in the Boston Globe (Mass General Brigham to invest $400 million to open new cancer institute before Dana-Farber partnership ends)

David E. Williams, president of Boston consulting firm Health Business Group, said the memo appeared to serve several purposes, including discouraging MGB employees from leaving to work at Dana-Farber’s planned cancer hospital.

“They want to tell their employees, ‘Hey, don’t think about going over to Beth Israel Lahey and Dana-Farber because we’re going to make some beautiful space for you to work in even before the end of our agreement,’” he said.

He also said that MGB was demonstrating that even in the face of ongoing layoffs — the health system has reportedly laid off about 1,500 of its 82,000 employees in two waves last month and this month — it is making a serious financial commitment to treating cancer.

“Honestly, I’m pessimistic,” said David Williams, president of Health Business Group. “I don’t think the traditional approaches of requiring vaccination for school and work will be accepted in today’s political environment. In fact, such requirements are likely to be reversed and we will even see state laws stating that mandates cannot be implemented at the local level.”

Local public health officials and health care providers remain trustworthy, he added.

“Individual family physicians, nurse practitioners and pediatricians are also influential with their patients, regardless of political leanings,” Williams said. “Public health officials communicate through local resources like town newsletters, local TV, radio and print media, and their own social media accounts. Individual providers communicate through one-on-one visits and are backed up by local community health centers and hospitals.”

“They are clearly in good financial condition,” said David E. Williams, president of the Health Business Group, a consulting firm. “They have doubled their total gain even if the hospitals aren’t making more money themselves. They continue to do well.”

David Williams was quoted in the Boston Globe (Thousands are scrambling after learning their insurance will no longer cover care at UMass or Children’s hospitals)

It just may not be possible for lower-priced health plans to afford these costly providers.

“It’s definitely a game of chicken,” David E. Williams, president of the Boston consulting firm Health Business Group, said of negotiations between health systems and insurers. “Usually, they work it out, but not always.”

In the case of Point32Health, the state’s second-largest health insurer — which formed in 2021 when Tufts Health Plan merged with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care — said that Children’s and UMass Memorial wanted to charge too much for care. Point32Health said it couldn’t pay the higher rates and keep premiums affordable.

“We were far apart, and Boston Children’s and UMass determined they would no longer participate” in that plan, said Philip Tracey, a spokesperson for Point32Health. He added, “This is not an uncommon occurrence. Providers leave networks for various reasons.”

The move by the MGB primary care physicians is a “big deal,” according to David E. Williams, president of the Boston consulting firm Health Business Group, and might embolden primary care doctors at other health systems to do the same thing.

“Traditionally, you don’t have physicians unionizing,” he said. “They’ve been thought of as independent individuals with a fair amount of autonomy and authority and a high level of education.”

David Williams is quoted in the Boston Globe (Lawrence General bought out Holy Family hospitals from Steward. Now comes the hard part.)

One reason for its financial challenges: More than 70 percent of its patients are insured by MassHealth and Medicare, state and federal programs that pay less than commercial insurance. Now it’s taking over two hospitals, operating under a single license, where about 63 percent of patients similarly rely on MassHealth and Medicare — in effect, creating a regional system of hospitals dependent on public payers.

“There’s not necessarily a precedent for that in Massachusetts,” said consultant David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group in Boston. He said the new system could succeed, however, if Lawrence General capitalizes on its larger scale and deploys state money wisely.

“If you put three hospitals together, you have good market share in a compact area,” Williams said. “The new CEO there has a vision. With the state backstopping them, they have the chance to stabilize the system.”

Collaborating Docs addresses a critical need in the healthcare sector by facilitating high-quality collaborations between nurse practitioners (NPs) and supervising physicians, a requirement for NPs to practice independently in 33 states. The company has built a robust network of 2,000 physicians and has successfully matched over 5,000 NPs and physician assistants with supervising physicians nationwide.

In this engagement, Health Business Group conducted a comprehensive assessment of Collaborating Docs' market potential, competitive positioning, and growth opportunities. The firm's primary data gathering and in-depth analysis provided TTCP with crucial insights to inform their investment decision.

“Collaborating Docs is uniquely positioned to meet the increasing demand for advanced practice providers,” said TTCP Partner Ryan Engle. “Health Business Group helped validate our conviction about the investment and opportunities for continued growth.”

"We are honored to have supported TT Capital Partners in this significant transaction," said David E. Williams, President of Health Business Group. "Our evaluation underscored Collaborating Docs' differentiation in enhancing healthcare access and compliance, and identified exciting avenues for future expansion."

As a trusted advisor in the healthcare and life sciences sectors, Health Business Group is dedicated to guiding private equity and healthcare companies toward sustainable growth and success.

About Health Business Group
Health Business Group is a boutique healthcare and life sciences consulting firm, which helps clients in life sciences, technology-enabled healthcare services, and private equity develop and execute innovative business strategies. Founded in 2003, the firm is staffed by highly experienced consultants with particular expertise in due diligence for financial and strategic investors. Learn more at www.HealthBusinessGroup.com.

About Collaborating Docs
Collaborating Docs connects nurse practitioners (NPs) with supervising physicians, addressing a critical need to expand care access and ensure healthcare compliance. With expertise in healthcare regulations, a nationwide network of physicians, and years of experience, Collaborating Docs simplifies and standardizes the collaboration process, making it the trusted choice for streamlined, compliant partnerships. Learn more at www.CollaboratingDocs.com.

About TTCP
TT Capital Partners (TTCP) provides capital, expertise, and insight to healthcare technology and services companies that have the potential to become market leaders. With its exclusive focus on healthcare, extensive industry network, and deep investing and operating experience, TTCP has invested in some of the most high-growth businesses that are innovating and disrupting how healthcare is delivered, managed and consumed. Learn more at www.TTCapitalPartners.com.

David E Williams
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David Williams is quoted in the Boston Globe (Amid divorce with Dana-Farber, MassGeneral Brigham touts its own cancer institute).

David E. Williams, president of the Boston consulting firm Health Business Group, said both MGB and Dana-Farber can make compelling arguments for why their approach is best. MGB, he said, is saying it takes care of patients for a wide range of maladies, from the cradle to the grave.

“The counter-argument, if I had cancer, is, ‘I don’t care if I might get arthritis in 20 years. I’ve got to kill this cancer before it kills me,’” he said.

David E. Williams, president of the Boston consulting firm Health Business Group, said Tenet and Point32Health should stop pointing fingers and settle the dispute. Patients and employers that provide health insurance, he said, are caught in the middle.

“We’re talking about the rate of inflation in the US being 3 percent overall,” Williams said. “So if I’m a patient or I’m an employer, I want to say to the health plan and the hospital, ‘Figure out a way to keep the price increase at that level. Don’t make it my problem.’ ”

David Williams is quoted in the Boston Globe (Baystate Health in Western Massachusetts plans more layoffs):

“They’ve had large operating losses,” said David E. Williams, president of the Boston consulting firm Health Business Group. “This is typical of what’s happening nationally with hospitals and in New England and in Massachusetts in particular.”

It’s a particular problem for Baystate, which doesn’t have a big endowment.

Even with the state’s financial backing, it will be no easy undertaking. Outside analysts also worry the effort could divert attention, and money, from other priorities and services such as primary care and mental health.

“It’s going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to get the Steward hospitals back to a reasonable level,” said David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group, a Boston consulting firm. “These hospitals are losing money every day. Buyers will have to rebuild their basic functions.”

Others fear the hospitals’ rescue could become a money pit at a time when the hospital sector has become bloated and inefficient.

“It’s not a good investment,” said Williams, the Boston health care consultant. “Over time, we want to move health care from hospitals to community settings and primary care. The state’s money should be used to ease that transition, not to prop up hospitals that are failing.”