100 Most Influential People in Healthcare – 2016
Rank 5
Sylvia Mathews Burwell,
51
Secretary, HHS
- Compensation: $199,700 - according to Federal executive schedule
- Years on list: 3
Burwell's focus in the past year can be summed up in one word: quality. She and her team have been aggressively working to move Medicare away from its fee-for-service to a model that focuses on reimbursing for quality of care via alternative payment models. Last year, the agency set the goal of tying 30% of Medicare payments to quality or value through alternative payment models by the end of 2016, and 50% by the end of 2018. The agency has already announced or launched experimental pay models that will change the way it pays for primary care, nursing home services, cardiac procedures and hip and knee replacements.