Rank: 89
Stephanie Mercado
CEO and executive director, National Association for Healthcare Quality
Mercado joined the NAHQ, which develops healthcare quality competencies and operates a certification program for healthcare quality professionals, in 2013. Since then, membership has more than doubled to nearly 10,000, with more than 15,000 Certified Professionals in Healthcare Quality. Under her leadership, NAHQ launched its Workforce Accelerator program, which helps healthcare organizations advance their quality initiatives. NAHQ also created the Quality and Safety Benchmarking program; to date, nearly 40 health systems and 150 hospitals have submitted data about staffing and budgets. Before NAHQ, Mercado worked at the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She serves on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s National Steering Committee for Patient Safety.