Darcey Schoenebeck is a healthcare executive with a passion for working cross-functionally to build and grow successful businesses. She is currently Chief Client Officer at Optum Rx, the third largest pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company in the country. Her PBM experience is extensive, having been part of the executive team that catapulted Catalyst Rx into the Fortune 500 and grew the share price by 4.5 times in just over three years. The company was acquired and became Catamaran, where she was President of a multi-billion dollar health plan business. 

Most recently, she was part of the executive team at RxSense, a health tech company she joined as employee #2 and helped build into profitability. In her early career, Darcey worked in management consulting within the change management and business transformation discipline. She received her undergraduate degree at Gustavus Adolphus College and her Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Minnesota State University.

How did you become an executive in the healthcare industry? Have you always been interested in healthcare?

I landed in healthcare somewhat by happenstance. My education and early career experience were in human capital doing business process transformation and change management work. I joined UnitedHealth Group in 2001 to help build a corporate recruiting function from the ground up, so that’s how I got into healthcare. UHG provided me with endless opportunities to learn, both inside and outside my domain expertise. I feel fortunate to have landed in healthcare, where there are always big problems to solve and endless opportunities to apply what you know for the betterment of the system.

You joined Optum Rx this summer as Chief Client Officer – congratulations! What are your top priorities when considering a new role?

Thank you!  My top priorities when considering a new role are:

• The executive team – do their vision, passion and values align with mine? Do they inspire me?
• The challenge – will I be uncomfortable? The answer has to be yes.
• The fit – do I have the experience and ambition to accomplish what is being asked of me? Does the role allow me to influence the culture in a substantial way? I owe the company an honest answer to the first, and I owe myself an honest answer to the second. 

As a leader in client growth and satisfaction, what recent customer-focused industry trend are you most excited about?

As it relates to our customers, I’m most excited about the advancement of science and data in our industry, and Optum’s commitment to leading the way on access to information and insights using data science tools and methodologies (e.g machine learning). For the patients our customers serve, I am most excited about pharmacogenomics and the ability to put people on tailored drug therapies to which their bodies will respond most successfully.  

You attended WBL’s annual dinner in Minnesota this month. What was your favorite part of the event? What networking tips would you share with fellow members when attending a similar WBL event in the future?

In addition to seeing Jeannine’s gardens (which is always one of my favorite parts of this event), I enjoyed the honest discussion about how hard it is to start a business from the ground up. I’ve worked for two start-ups, including one that ran out of money and another that is now a unicorn (valued at more than $1B). Running out of money is by far the more common outcome but when it works, there is nothing more satisfying. 

As for networking, I always read the list of who is going and I attempt to reach out to a couple of people before the event to introduce myself and let them know that I’d like to connect with them in person. That said, I have found that whomever I’m standing next to at the social or happen to end up at the dinner table with turns out to be an interesting person doing something in health care that I don’t know much about, and I embrace all of those learning opportunities. WBL has created a culture of inclusivity that I appreciate and value. 

Personally or professionally, what might the WBL network be surprised to know about you?

Professionally, most people are surprised that I transitioned into business development from an early career in human capital. I actually credit most of my leadership success to building high-performing teams, and doing that is essentially leveraging the human capital fundamentals of interviewing, talent selection, people development, and organizational design. For all of you looking at your talent pool and thinking about succession and development, take a close look at your human capital team. You might be surprised at the savvy business people who reside there. 

Personally, people are surprised to learn that I am an introvert.