Modern Healthcare – August 12, 2019

August 12, 2019 | Modern Healthcare 11

ed more senior-level place-

ments last year than any other

participant in our survey.

Jeff Zegas, CEO of search

firm ZurickDavis, also noted

that he was aware of the trend, although

CEO searches at his organization are

primarily done in healthcare sectors

other than hospitals.

The skills needed to be a CEO, though,

continue to evolve and could drive

searches in new directions. David Gant-

shar, CEO of Merraine Group, point-

ed out that hospital CEOs today must

have exposure to technology, patient

care, employee relations, community

involvement, finance, wellness and in-

novation.

“To be a CEO in today’s high-pres-

sure, low-margin, high-touch, technol-

ogy-focused environment, one must be

a business leader, first and foremost,”

Gantshar said. l

AS HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS
eye a shift to value-based care, many are
looking to fill vacant CEO spots with a
physician leader.
The majority of companies respond-
ing to Modern Healthcare’s Executive
Search Firms Survey noted that the
trend is growing rapidly as physicians’
specific skill sets become more sought
after in leadership.
“In the past, it was typical to see aca-
demic medical centers hiring physician
CEOs,” said Ed Stout, man-
aging partner and health-
care lead of Diversified
Search, “but we now see
community health systems
and large integrated deliv-
ery systems asking to see
physicians in almost every
CEO search we undertake.”

By Megan Caruso

Executives

Search firms see shift toward physicians as CEOs

THE TAKEAWAY

There’s growing

demand to fill CEO

placements with

physician leaders

amid the shift to

value-based care.

At HealthTrust, we use science supported by

data. Others may claim big data. But they

can’t duplicate our experience and insight

in guiding informed decision-making that

supports improved care and lowered cost.

Let us help you amplify your voice and turn

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Donna Padilla, managing

partner and practice leader

of healthcare at WittKiefer,

said physicians’ clinical back-

grounds are key. They often

possess deeper skills and exposure to

a breadth of strategic and operational

issues, including quality measures and

patient satisfaction, both of which factor

into value-based payments, she added.

Several other firms noted almost iden-

tical qualities with emphasis on the pa-

tient experience.

“Many physician leaders have proven

their proficiency at being a

liaison and strengthening

alignment between the

clinical and the operation-

al sides of the business,”

said Kelly Rakowski, presi-

dent of leadership at AMN

Healthcare, parent of B.E.

Smith, the firm that report-

For a ranking

of the largest

executive search

firms, see p. 38