David Scott was a Healthcare IT director at Deloitte where he was implementing large-system solutions. In 2006 and 2007, he says he noticed a big turn in the size and scope of the projects he was working on. In 2008, he left Deloitte to launch Pivot Point Consulting.
"If you remember, that was a very difficult time to be launching any business, right at the height of the downturn, but I knew there was a big future in healthcare, and it was a just matter of finding a niche that would work," says Scott, Partner and co-founder of the firm.
Initially, Dave was going it alone. But in 2009, on an implementation project at a hospital in Pennsylvania, he met Rachel Halonen Marano, who was working on implementation from the client side. "We quickly realized that we both had similar visions, and we joined forces and, literally, spent eight months trying to figure of the solutions to the problems of running a healthcare consultancy," Scott says.
Marano joined full-time as a partner and co-founder in April 2011. "We really wanted to have the type of full-service organization that had strong implementation abilities, but also a very strong advisory and leadership component that could service both sides of the equation for clients," Marano says. "One of the biggest advantages is that we were able to work both the payer and the provider side. A lot of competitors didn't, and still don't, have that ability. I think that sets us apart."
With a sound business strategy in place, the firm was off and running. Still, at that point, Pivot Point was exactly two people. They began setting the foundation for the firm. "The amount of time that Rachel and I put in to solving the problems was enormous," Scott says. "As a start-up, we tried to figure out how we were going to attract top talent, and identifying what was important to consultants, and all those things that would go into building a world-class consultancy."
The result, Marano says, is a firm that has all the creature comforts consultants would ever want, plus a benefits package that rivals, or even exceeds, the enterprise firms. As a result, Pivot Point, has a turnover rate of less than 3 percent. "People love working here," Scott says. "We've been able to create a great culture."
The challenge will be to keep it as the firm grows. Pivot Point grew 70 percent last year. "In 2013, we were basically sold out," Scott says. "We started 2014 with over 4.5 million booked. Given all the things happening in healthcare, I don't see any reason to think we couldn't be a $30 million firm by the end of 2016."
Scott says a big piece of that growth is Partner Jon Melling, who joined in November 2013 to focus on healthcare strategy.
Clearly, the regulatory work that comes with the Affordable Care Act will help drive the growth, Melling says. Specifically, IDC-10, which carries an October deadline. "We're making sure that everyone will be ready for October, but the truth of the matter is that much of the change with IDC-10 doesn't happen until 2015 and 2016," he says. "The same is also true with the next stages of Meaningful Use, which centers around both implementation and optimization of those systems. That's where the growth potential becomes reality."
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.