50 Most Influential Physician Executives – 2016
Rank: 44
James Madara
Executive VP and CEO, American Medical Association
Dr. James Madara, executive vice president and CEO of the American Medical Association, keeps finding new frontiers in healthcare to explore. In January, Madara led an effort to create a for-profit medical innovation company in Silicon Valley named Health2047 funded with $15 million in seed money from the AMA. That's coming from the nation's largest and oldest physician organization, which pre-dates the American Civil War. Madara is board chairman of Health2047, which aims "to develop new products, tools and resources that improve the practice of medicine and the delivery of healthcare to patients." For Madara, the company's mission aligns with his life's work. Before taking the helm at the AMA in 2011, he was CEO of the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was instrumental in expanding the system's research capabilities and delivery network. During his tenure he oversaw construction of a $700 hospital pavilion and the opening of primary-care clinics on the city's South Side.