Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/239362
50 12th Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference + The Business of Spine - call (800) 417-2035 50 of the Most Powerful People in Healthcare — 2013 By Bob Herman T 50 Most Powerful People in Healthcare — 2013 he U.S. healthcare system is heading into one of its most monumental years in decades, as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will go into near-full motion. As we gear up for 2014, here are 50 of the most powerful people who have shaped policy, thoughts, operations and management in healthcare. Joel Allison serves as CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas. This past year, he oversaw the merger of Baylor Health Care System and Scott & White Healthcare, creating Baylor Scott & White. The new organization, which is the largest nonprofit health system in Texas, includes 43 hospitals, more than 6,000 physicians, 34,000 employees, the Scott & White Health Plan and about $8.3 billion in combined assets. Mark Bertolini is chairman, president and CEO of Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna. He oversees a health insurer with more than $35.5 billion in revenue, according to 2012 figures. Earlier this year, Aetna closed on its deal to acquire Coventry Health Care, a prominent health insurer for Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care plans. Leah Binder has served as CEO of The Leapfrog Group since 2008. Under her leadership, Leapfrog launched the Hospital Safety Score, a system that assigns a letter grade to every hospital based on how safe that institution is for patients. Christine Cassel, MD, is new president and CEO of National Quality Forum, which receives funding from the government, private sources and foundations, aims to improve the quality of U.S. healthcare through the creation of standards, education and publicly measured and reported performance. Mark Chassin, MD, a board-certified internist, has served as president and CEO of The Joint Commission since 2008. He has established several new initiatives during his tenure, including the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare. He was the founding chairman of the health policy department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Benjamin Chu, MD, has become a prominent voice among hospital and health system advocates. He serves as executive vice president of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser Health Plan in Oakland and regional president of Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Hawaii. Francis Collins, MD, PhD, is director of the National Institutes of Health. He has found ways to keep NIH one of the most prominent biomedical research institutions in the world. Routinely working 90-hour weeks, he has led pioneering work in genomics — he discovered disease genes, sequenced the full human genome and oversaw the international Human Genome Project. Deborah Bowen is president and CEO of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the preeminent professional society for hospital and health system leaders. Currently, ACHE is home to more than 40,000 healthcare executives, offering credentials and board certification in healthcare management. David Cordani has led Bloomfield, Conn.-based health insurer Cigna as president and CEO for the past four years. In 2012, Cigna posted more than $29.1 billion in total revenue and acquired HealthSpring in a $3.8 billion deal. Cigna has been one of the most proactive commercial health insurers in the accountable care organization space. Steven Brill — a journalist, lawyer and founder of both CourtTV and American Lawyer — made waves after writing one of the most extensive exposés on the U.S. health system. The report, "Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us," appeared in the March 4, 2013, issue of TIME. The 24,000-plus word article took up the entire feature section of the magazine, the first time in the history of TIME that has happened. Delos "Toby" Cosgrove, MD, has been Cleveland Clinic's president and CEO for the past decade. Dr. Cosgrove, an award-winning cardiac surgeon and former surgeon in the U.S. Air Force, oversees a system that has become influential both locally and abroad: The main campus in downtown Cleveland has more than 1,400 beds, and the system has more than 4,400 beds overall. Bruce Broussard became president and CEO of health insurer Humana in January 2013, replacing Mike McCallister. In 2012, Humana posted more than $39.1 billion in revenue and net profit of $1.2 billion. Mr. Broussard joined Humana as president in December 2011 after serving as CEO of McKesson Specialty/U.S. Oncology. RoseAnn DeMoro serves as executive director of National Nurses United, one of the largest, most progressive healthcare labor unions in the country. NNU represents approximately 185,000 registered nurses. Under Ms. DeMoro's leadership, NNU has spearheaded several campaigns, notably to improve the job environment for nurses, create secure retirement for healthcare workers and promote a single-payer system. Bill Carpenter is chairman and CEO of LifePoint Hospitals in Brentwood, Tenn. The for-profit hospital system owns and operates roughly 60 hospitals, mostly small community providers, in 20 states. He also is a trustee and past board chair of the Federation of American Hospitals. Judith Faulkner founded Epic Systems in 1979, one of the largest technology and electronic health record companies in the U.S. and worldwide. She currently serves as CEO of the private Epic, which posted $1.5 billion in revenue in 2012, up roughly 25 percent from 2011, according to Forbes.