What defines influence?
As we publish our annual 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare, I’m reminded of a famously popular TV commercial a few decades ago for a Wall Street brokerage firm named E.F. Hutton. In the ad, two men at a restaurant table are talking about stocks, when one asks the other what his broker thinks. As the man starts to respond that his broker is E.F. Hutton, the entire restaurant becomes silent as everyone leans in to listen.
That’s influence. Similarly, our 2022 list honors and ranks the industry leaders whose efforts are guiding others. Their influence shines a spotlight on local, state and national issues, along with government policies inhibiting their ability to deliver quality healthcare to the country. And they are taking actions to help reshape an industry that dramatically needs changing to become more patient-, customer- and member-centric.
This year’s list also includes executives who are making moves to better prepare their workforces—and by extension their facilities and balance sheets—for success by increasing rewards for front-line caregivers, creating pipelines for new employees and deploying diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Modern Healthcare selected its first group of the most influential people in healthcare in 2002. This year, our presentation recognizes more than 20 people who have made the list at least a dozen times. It also has 25 newcomers, a sign of people moving up through the ranks and being given the opportunity to lead by example and wield their influence. Executives at providers account for 48 of this year’s honorees.
To be sure, it’s been yet another challenging year for the industry, and a recession next year would likely erase many plans still on the drawing board. Providers in particular are going into 2023 with battle-scarred financial statements.
Here’s what we’d like to see from our next group of industry influencers: more progress on diversity, equity and inclusion within their organizations, creating workplaces where people feel a sense of belonging; advancement of efforts to address the social determinants of health in their communities; and programs to tackle environmental, social and governance issues. And always, despite the big getting bigger, more focus on the consumer.
