Obamacare architect Nancy-Ann DeParle returns to private equity | Healthcare Finance News

Nancy-Ann DeParle may have left the Obama White House last January, but she did not leave healthcare behind.

The former director of the White House Office of Health Reform, since 2011 DeParle had been deputy chief of staff for policy, helping the president develop policy in multiple areas. Still, DeParle is best known as a chief architect of the Affordable Care Act, and a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) during the Clinton administration.

Earlier this month, DeParle returned to a healthcare focus, albeit in the world of private equity, as a partner with the New York-based firm Consonance Capital Partners. She'll help guide CCP's investment decisions in lower middle market healthcare enterprises.

DeParle spoke with editorial director Richard Pizzi about her healthcare investing strategy as well as broader trends in the healthcare industry.

Q: You recently rejoined the private equity world after a number of years working in the national healthcare policy arena. Why did you re-enter private equity and what are some of your investment goals with Consonance Capital Partners?

A: I was very happily working in private equity, helping to grow really interesting companies, when I got the call from the president to try and get health reform done. But I had a lot of fun (in private equity). One company we grew was in the managed care space, managing 60,000 Medicare Advantage patients and getting great results with them. Another was a hospital company that we built from the ground up, working with physicians and the community.

Working with the president was an incredible experience. Presidents have been trying to do this since Harry Truman, so you’d have to say the odds were long when I went there but I’m proud to say we got health reform done.

Then I stayed at the president’s request to get implementation up and running, and then I became the Deputy Chief of Staff of Policy. It was a very rich experience. But I was ready to get back to working with companies again, to working with management teams. I was fortunate enough to be able to rejoin three of my former partners. This seems like an incredible time to invest in good ideas in healthcare, but it’s not for the faint of heart.

Q: Are there particularly hot sectors in the industry that you’ll focus on?

A: Yes. We’re looking at businesses that have figured out how to manage care efficiently and take cost out of the system. You’re seeing a confluence of a number of trends. First, millions of consumers without insurance now able to get it. Secondly, a real drive for value in healthcare. Things that make care more cost-effective are appealing, whether it’s products that achieve it, or information technology tools that help to manage care. Consumerism is another trend that we see as being very impactful. We’re looking at things that help hospitals and clinicians manage their businesses better – collecting money they’re owed in an efficient way, managing the revenue cycle.

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