What is the definition of influence?
When we released our annual 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare, I was reminded of a famous TV ad from decades ago for a Wall Street brokerage firm called EF Hutton. In the ad, two men at a restaurant table are talking about stocks, and one of them asks the other what his broker thinks. When the man started responding that his manager was EF Hutton, the restaurant fell silent and everyone leaned in to listen.
That’s influence. Likewise, our 2022 list recognizes and ranks industry leaders who strive to lead others. Their influence draws attention to local, state, and national issues, while government policy limits their ability to provide quality health care to the nation. They are taking action to help reshape an industry in desperate need of change to become more patient, customer and member-centric.
This year’s list also includes those who are taking action to better engage frontline caregivers by increasing rewards for frontline caregivers, creating pipelines for new hires, and deploying diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. workforce—and by expanding their facilities and balance sheet—set themselves up for success.
Modern Healthcare selected its first list of the Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2002. This year, our presentations honored more than 20 individuals who have made the list at least a dozen times. It also has 25 newcomers, which is a sign of people being promoted and having the opportunity to lead by example and make an impact. Supplier executives accounted for 48 of this year’s honorees.
To be sure, this year will be another challenging year for the industry, with a recession in the next year likely to erase many planning boards that are still in the works. Suppliers, in particular, will enter 2023 with battle-scarred financial statements.
Here’s what we want to see from the next crop of industry influencers: making more progress on diversity, equity and inclusion in their organizations, creating people to feel they belong workplaces; advancing efforts to address the social determinants of health in communities; and programs that address environmental, social and governance issues. And always, though bigger and bigger, more focused on the consumer.
