Commentary: Building an action plan to address healthcare's compensation gap for women executives

Modern Healthcare’s recent analysis of the 25 highest-paid not-for-profit health system executives captures the reality of C-Suite compensation. All top 25 earners were men. The first woman doesn’t show up until No. 33. When we expanded the list, only two women were among the top 50 earners in not-for-profit health systems in fiscal 2017, the latest available data.

This is the disheartening reality that women healthcare executives face, and it is especially relevant considering Modern Healthcare will honor its Top 25 Women Leaders this week at the annual Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference in Chicago.

The gender-based compensation gap is pervasive throughout healthcare. Pay disparities are present in medicine, with a male physician making $1.25 for every $1 made by a female physician, according to a physician compensation study from Doximity.

The question is why—and to what extent has the industry failed to advance gender diversity in the C-suite? Women lead and have led many of the nation’s top health systems, academic medical centers, hospitals and healthcare associations. And yet, according to a 2019 report from Oliver Wyman, only 33% of senior executives and 13% of CEOs in healthcare organizations are women.

There are several reasons for these startling figures. Many healthcare organizations still lack programs designed to promote women’s advancement.

Moreover, diversity is no assurance of executive financial gain. Forty-seven percent of women healthcare executives say their organization fails to link its diversity and inclusion goals to compensation, according to results from Modern Healthcare’s 2019 Women Leaders in Healthcare survey.

Yet, optimism abounds among women healthcare executive leaders. Respondents to our survey on diversity and inclusion programs give their organization a 3.25 out of 5 rating for commitment to women’s advancement—meaning we’re moving in a positive direction, but we’ve still got a way to go.

So how healthcare can set an agenda and act on women’s advancement. How do we build on the progress of women CIOs earning more than men, as reported in a 2019 survey from the College for Health Information Management? How do we maintain the momentum of women leaders appearing in unprecedented numbers on Modern Healthcare’s list of 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives for 2019?

Here are elements of a three- to five-year action agenda the industry can use to advance women leaders:

• Research: Invest in research that documents roadblocks to women’s advancement, including unconscious bias, questionable leadership development and promotion practices, and advocates for connecting compensation to diversity and inclusion initiatives.
• Compensation: Review compensation practices to ensure fairness, equity, opportunity and advancement potential for women. We can focus on key business, executive and board roles, and revise policies, practices and traditions that might slow women’s path to higher pay.
• Tracking talent: Measure and monitor initiatives for a more diverse, inclusive workforce, including the advancement of women in leadership roles. To do this, we need to set goals, use workforce analytics and monitor metrics on women’s advancement.
• An advancement culture: Discover what women need to dismantle roadblocks and advance their careers. That means committing to regular conversations on diversity, inclusion and women’s advancement, including the why and how of assessment, coaching, mentoring, leadership development, promotion, and succession planning.

Imagine that it’s 2024—just five years from now. Modern Healthcare has just released its list of top-earning executives of not-for-profit health systems. I see the names of Peter, Robert, Kenneth and James on the list, but I also see Nancy, Joanne, Debra and Anne.

Together, we can build an industry that appreciates and acknowledges women leaders and compensates them according to their work, not their gender; an industry where opportunities, benefits, compensation, etc., are not limited based on gender or gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical values, national origin or political beliefs.

We’re eager to hear from you.