Four interest group leaders made it on the list for the first time: Beverly Malone, CEO of the National League for Nursing (No. 29); Kathy Warye, CEO of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (No. 46); Barbara Crane, president of the National Federation of Nurses (No. 48); and Angela Gardner, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (No. 83).
Only two hospital executives debuted on the list this year: David White, chairman and CEO of Iasis Healthcare in Franklin, Tenn. (No. 30); and Michael Connelly, president and CEO of Catholic Health Partners in Cincinnati (No. 60).
There was one new policy analyst on the list: Robert Moffit (No. 73), senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He directed the conservative think tank's Center for Health Policy Studies from 2003 until June 2010.
Two health insurance executives made it onto the list for the first time: Gail Boudreaux, president of UnitedHealthcare, the largest division of UnitedHealth Group, in Minnetonka, Minn., came in at No. 53. Scott Armstrong, president and CEO of Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, a system that provides insurance and outpatient services in Washington state, debuted at No. 38.
Neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta rounded out the list at No. 100.
Robert Wachter, a quality expert at the University of California at San Francisco and a national leader in the hospitalist movement, joined the list at No. 72 this year. Wachter writes a popular blog called “Wachter's World,” and he speculates the blog's loyal readers may have helped him land a spot on our list.
“It's sobering and humbling to look at the company I'm in,” he says. “These are heads of large organizations that control large budgets. They have the ability to change the world.”