100 Most Influential People in Healthcare – 2016
Rank 69
Margaret O'Kane,
68
Founder and CEO, National Committee for Quality Assurance
- Compensation: $739,712 - according to 2014 IRS Form 990
- Years on list: 11
O'Kane founded what began in 1990 as an independent project to improve healthcare quality and has overseen its growth into a national movement that has changed the landscape of the nation's health system. The NCQA is the main accrediting organization for health plans. The NCQA was among the first to assess and provide metrics for the quality of healthcare delivery—its Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set, or HEDIS, is the dominant tool for health plan quality assessment. Her work has laid the foundation for what today has become a national trend toward reforms that reward value rather than the quantity of procedures or tests performed.