Healthcare leadership is dominated by men. All one has to do is attend a healthcare leadership conference and glance around the room. The majority of attendees will be older white males (with the exception of a nursing or quality leadership conference).
Seventy-two percent of healthcare CEOs are male, according to the HealthLeaders Media Industry Survey 2009. While the industry is making strides in leadership gender diversity, there is still a lot of room for improvement. And the sooner this occurs the better it may be for hospitals' bottom line.
Generating the best and most innovative ideas requires teams that are comprised of equal numbers of men and women, according to research out of the United Kingdom. In addition, companies with at least 25% of executive positions held by women yield a 35% higher return on equity than companies with fewer women in top positions.
Based on this type of information, Norway's minister for trade and industry, Ansgar Gabrielsen, declared last year that 40% of all boardroom positions in companies listed on the Oslo stock exchange needed be held by women within five years. If companies did not comply, they would be prosecuted. That was a pretty bold move considering that 94% of all board positions at the time were held by men, according to this Fast Companyblog analyzing Norway's leadership strategy.
I'm not suggesting that healthcare organizations should mandate the number of executive leadership positions held by women. But I think its worth noting that having a more equal distribution of males and females on the team could yield better operational results. People are more likely to contribute thoughts and ideas to a discussion if they are not in the minority. Sure there are strong personality types that break this rule but, in general, people are less likely to speak up if they are the only physician, or patient, or female in the room.
I'm curious to know what you think, "Do healthcare organizations have enough female representation in the senior executive suites?"
Oh, and if you think your leadership team is at the top of its class, you still have time to enter the HealthLeaders Media Top Leadership Teams in Healthcare contest. Now in its fifth year, the program recognizes the best in senior leadership teamwork at hospitals, health plans, and medical group practices. This year's winners will be honored during HealthLeaders Media '09: The Hospital of the Future Now, an event planned for October 15-16 at The Palmer House in Chicago. Go to the Top Leadership Teams site to learn more about the six categories, download an entry form, and submit your entry. The deadline to submit is April 30.
Carrie Vaughan is leadership editor with HealthLeaders magazine. She can be reached at cvaughan@healthleadersmedia.com.
Note: You can sign up to receive HealthLeaders Media Corner Office, a free weekly e-newsletter that reports on key management trends and strategies that affect healthcare CEOs and senior leaders.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas appeared to be headed for confirmation as health and human services secretary, but several Republican senators objected to an immediate vote, so the Senate is unlikely to take up the nomination until later this month. Sebelius sailed through a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee without encountering any difficult questions about her income taxes or her views on abortion. But Republicans later asked that the committee defer action.
Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly embraced President Obama's ambitious and expensive agenda for the nation by endorsing a $3.5 trillion spending plan that sets the stage for the president to pursue his most far-reaching priorities. The House and Senate approved budget blueprints that would trim Obama's spending proposals for the fiscal year that begins in October and curtail his plans to cut taxes. The blueprints, however, would permit work to begin on the central goals of Obama's presidency, including an expansion of healthcare coverage for the uninsured.
The era of free or nearly free medical care at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital is over for people who live outside Fulton and DeKalb counties, hospital officials said. People from Gwinnett, Cobb and other counties seeking non-emergency care began paying fees on a sliding scale based on income, effective April 1. About one in four indigent patients—about 37,000 patients a year—come from outside Fulton and DeKalb, officials said.
Struggling Tarpon Springs, FL-based Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital is seeking a partner to fund expansion of its cardiac care services. Helen Ellis chief executive Don Evans cautioned that going private is not an objective, but can't be ruled out as the hospital looks for a cash infusion. Squeezed by unpaid hospital bills, patients unable to pay for all but critical procedures, and the rising cost of charity care, the hospital could use a partner with cash to invest to help ensure its viability, Evans said.
General Electric and Intel are joining forces to try to cash in on the trend of delivering more healthcare outside hospitals and doctors' offices. The companies plan to spend $250 million jointly in the next five years on research and development of health technologies to let doctors remotely monitor, diagnose, and consult with patients in their homes or assisted-living residences. Both companies have fledgling offerings in the field of telehealth and home health monitoring.
Ohio's Catholic bishops are warning that the proposed two-year state budget threatens the safety net provided by Catholic hospitals. Daniel Pilarczyk, Archbishop of Cincinnati, outlined the bishops' concerns in a recent letter to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. Among their main concerns is a plan to raise the franchise fee hospitals pay to the state. The higher fees would allow the state to attract a larger share of federal Medicaid money but return just a fraction of it to health systems and use the remainder to balance the state budget, Pilarczyk said.
Poor Mississippi residents who rely on state and federal health insurance must show up in person at a Medicaid office every year to renew health coverage for themselves and their children. Advocates say the four-year-old policy means children are being denied insurance because their parents don't have transportation or can't take time off from work.
Missouri Senate budget writers agreed to provide nearly $146 million for an expansion of government-funded healthcare to low-income parents. The proposal, backed by Gov. Jay Nixon, would be financed with special hospital tax revenues and federal dollars—a key selling point for some senators opposed to committing general state tax revenues to the program.
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has launched an inquiry into how Georgia health insurers calculate payments to physicians for out-of-network care. Oxendine has ordered 18 major insurers to report how they set reimbursement rates for service delivered outside their networks. He said he also wants to know which, if any, insurers use the Ingenix database, a focus of lawsuits that allege that data have been manipulated to shortchange patients and doctors.
