COO, Family Cancer Center Foundation
Perhaps it’s her risk-taker’s nature, or perhaps the skills she learned in the trenches, but Jan Conwill seems to have a special knack for strategically managing operations for an impressive list of groups, clinics and programs, including the new Family Cancer Center Foundation.
With its five locations, nine physicians and 65 employees, the foundation is her latest endeavor. It becomes effective this month, when the group’s physicians join the Baptist Medical Group, establishing the Baptist Cancer Center Physicians Foundation.
“I’m excited to be a part of this new venture,” said Conwill, the foundation’s COO. “This will be an opportunity to streamline care and provide many cancer services under one roof, which is the wave of the future, and is in keeping with Baptist’s commitment to put patients first.”
The foundation’s contribution to the venture is to provide a comprehensive research program with the Baptist Cancer Center, Conwill explained.
“We are developing our own clinical trials program and received a National Cancer Institute grant to promote cancer clinical trials focusing on minority and underserved groups," she said. "We also have a strong collaboration with the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center to further promote clinical research to better serve our community. VICC is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and a nationally recognized leader in personalized cancer medicine.”
Conwill is hopeful the affiliation will enhance the level of available cancer care in the Memphis region, and advance Baptist’s cancer prevention, treatment and research mission. Patients will benefit from this collaboration, Conwill said, through access to more leading-edge clinical trials, joint conferences for the Baptist physicians with disease-specific experts to discuss best treatment options, and expanded cancer awareness, education and cancer prevention programs.
A native of Baldwyn, Miss., Conwill began her healthcare career in Tupelo at the North Mississippi Medical Center, where she worked her way up the ladder, serving in the business office and physician practices, gaining foundational knowledge of organizational management and applying it to challenges she faced as program coordinator for the first free-standing family practice residency program in north Mississippi.
“It was part of the North Mississippi Medical Center and affiliated with the University of Mississippi-Jackson,” she said. As one of its first three employees, Conwill opened the program in 1994 and managed it for seven years, until she moved to Memphis to serve endocrine, neurology, primary care and cardiology groups and clinics.
At each stage of her professional development, Conwill said, “I was fortunate to have good mentors who saw leadership potential in me and shepherded me in that direction. As a person who loves interacting with people and is goal driven, healthcare was my niche. I love to help people. As I progressed, I realized I have a passion for oncology.”
“In most practices, patients aren’t terminally ill, as many oncological patients are,” she added — a situation that inspires her to provide them with the best care possible. She recalls one patient who was angry because the last precious days of her life would likely be spent in the cancer clinic instead of outside with her family. “I can be mad if I want to!” the patient claimed defiantly.
“In fact,” Conwill said, “that totally changed my perspective on patient care.” Although her attention to patients is sometimes limited to small services, even minor gestures of caring and thoughtfulness are important.
“You may be that last face they see," she said. "If there’s something you can do to make their lives more pleasant, it’s worth the effort."
Since joining the Family Cancer Center Foundation in 2o13, she said, her greatest challenge has been working for a group of physicians owned by the Baptist Medical Group, and ensuring that decisions are made with the involvement and to the satisfaction of all parties. “I try to seek the best solution for all involved, always asking first, ‘What is best for the patients?’”
Fortunately, she thrives on challenges, and notes that working with a great team helps. She believes in an open-door policy that engages staff on the front lines to share their opinions before she makes decisions — and emphasizes that, as a servant-leader style manager, she is always available to them and strives to lead by example.
A summa cum laude graduate of Union University, where she earned her BS in organizational leadership, Conwill also has an MBA with healthcare concentration from Bethel University — and plans to earn a doctoral degree in healthcare administration.
A past president of the Mid-South Medical Group Management Association, she continues to play an active role in the national organization, with whom she hopes to soon fill a seat on their board. She urges other practice managers to join and enjoy the regional organization’s many member benefits.
“MGMA is a great place to network with other practice administrators," she said. "Timely issues of real concern are addressed, and speakers offer programs and resources that help you do your job better. Topics address effective use of a manager’s time, how to communicate effectively with physicians, how to get involved with ACOs, and how to deal with reimbursement issues — especially concerning high-dollar drug reimbursement under the 340B discount program — and how to qualify for it.
“It’s more than a collegial network of friends; each meeting offers CEUs and opportunities.”
Conwill’s proudest personal accomplishments include her family — a nurse-practitioner daughter, self-employed son, three granddaughters and two shih tzus — and her education.
In her spare time she volunteers with the Make a Wish Foundation, the American Cancer Society and Hospice. She loves to sky dive — the “most exhilarating experience I have ever had” — and she hopes to certify soon to "dive" solo.
