WashU Olin Business School Makes A Big Bet On The Business Of Health

When Washington University Olin Business School Dean Mike Mazzeo led the creation of a new strategic plan for the school, one new North Star emerged as a strategic imperative: developing true distinction in the business of health. It wasn’t merely a takeaway from the strategy sessions. It became a guiding mandate for moving forward.

“Given the tremendous growth of the health sector in our economy, it’s a place where we have a unique opportunity to demonstrate impact,” he says. “We want to be a place where we train the next generation of business leaders in this field.”

From Mazzeo’s way of thinking, the university already had core assets in place to make a difference. Washington University has long had one of the nation’s top medical schools. The university was creating a School of Public Health, its first new school in more than a century. And in the Midwest at least, few other rivals had earned distinction in the business of health. “We have assembled a lot of resources to be successful,” he says. “The partnerships give us tremendous opportunities.”

OLIN’S BIG INVESTMENT IN THE BUSINESS OF HEALTH

So a major intellectual and financial investment in the field seemed like a no-brainer. Within months, Mazzeo hired a managing director for the Olin Health Initiative, refreshed and created new courses in a portfolio of seven separate courses (see table below), and created in the business of health an undergraduate major, an MBA concentration, a specialization in Olin’s Flex MBA program, and a distinction in the school’s executive MBA. in the subject, and an MBA concentration. The school also focused its latest BIG IdeaBounce pitch contest for student startups on the business of health and recently convened a symposium on the subject to gather all the players in the ecosystem of health care in the St. Louis metro area. Olin is now laying the groundwork for a course in health finance, among other new offerings.

Mazzeo also views the launch of the initiative at a time when more critics are questioning the value of higher education. “We are in a period of adjustment and disruption, so demonstrating our value is more important than ever,” he says. “The school of business has a unique opportunity to demonstrate impact.”

Key to the initiative’s success is Mazzeo’s recruitment of Patrick Aguilar, managing director of the Olin Health Initiative. He brings a wealth of both academic and business experience to the job. He had been a professor at WashU’s medical school before leaving to be the chief medical officer at a healthcare venture at which he helped to build 13 urgent care centers in Oklahoma. “It was similar to a medical residency in business,” says Aguilar.

‘EVERYONE IS THINKING ABOUT HEALTH BUT NOT WITH THREE GREAT SCHOOLS’

When Mazzeo called him to be a special advisor to the dean, Aguilar was leading clinical operations in pulmonary and critical care medicine for Endeavor Health Medical Group in Chicago. He first worked part-time on the strategy for the business of health initiative, finally returning to Washington University in November of 2024.

With appointments in the business school, the med school, and the school of public health, Aguilar is in a strong position to fully leverage partnerships among the trio of academic players at WashU. Like Mazzeo, he believes that having three schools focused on the effort provides a unique competitive advantage in the field.

“Everyone is thinking about health, but most are not thinking with a school of medicine and a school of public health,” he notes. “My triple appointment is a sign of that. Right now, we are operating in an environment where there is great uncertainty. We need to work with others to move forward.”

HOPING TO BUILD ON THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF MEDICAL SCHOOL IP

In shaping curriculum and adding a health focus to most of the school’s degree programs, Aguilar says there has been no resistance. “Faculty at Olin have been active in health for many years,” he says. “But their efforts were not done in a coordinated and comprehensive way.”

Besides a refresh to existing health courses, Olin has added a new course on Drugs and Devices that focuses on how to take an idea out of the lab and put it into the market, and a new course on Health Insurance in America that explores how reimbursement decisions are made by the insurance industry. Aguilar also helped to revive a venture capital course, half of which is now devoted to the business of health. A health-focused capstone course allows students–both undergrad and graduate students–to solve real-world problems at established companies and startups.

The school is also working more closely with the four health systems in the St. Louis metro area, which have significant reach throughout the Midwest, along with a growing biotech sector and two payer companies in health insurance. Olin also plans to tap into its rich alumni network, some of whom are in Medical Alley in Minneapolis.

THE DEAN SEES MORE INTEREST IN HEALTH FROM STUDENTS

Among other things, Olin is hoping to smartly build on the commercialization of medical school intellectual property. “How do we take ideas that are great and push them to new places?” he asks.

Sure enough, the initiative is not only a program play; it is also a doubling down on scholarly research in the field. “Across the different academic disciplines, we already had faculty working on the issues of health,” says Mazzeo. “We want to do research and train students to advance wellness and case delivery. We explicitly are not doing a center for health care management because it is too limiting.”

Mazzeo expects to hire four new faculty members with a health focus over the next couple of years. He also sees increasing demand for business talent in the health field, making it a more viable option for graduates. “We are seeing all kinds of roll-us and acquisitions of health specialists by private equity. MBAs in particular are interested in that space.”