Becker's Hospital Review

Register Today! Becker's Hospital Review CIO and CEO Strategy Roundtables - Nov. 4 and 5, 2014 - Chicago 60 26 of the Most Controversial People in Healthcare By Dani Gordon C ontroversy is ubiquitous in the healthcare in- dustry as legislation and regulations change and patient care evolves. At the center of many of these controversies tends to be a strong-willed indi- vidual championing for their cause or company. Here are 26 of the most controversial people in health- care today as selected by our editors. Note: Becker's Hospital Review publishes a variety of news pieces and lists featuring individuals in the healthcare in- dustry. While Becker's Hospital Review often recognizes individuals and organizations for various reasons, Becker's Hospital Review does not endorse any individual's, politi- cal party's or organization's actions or opinions. While all are controversial figures, we at Becker's think very highly of some of these individuals and not so highly of others. The names below appear in alphabetical order. 1. Don Berwick Don Berwick, MD, served as the CMS administrator under President Obama from 2010 through 2011. Prior to that, he spent 20 years as president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. A pediatrician, Dr. Berwick practices at Boston Children's Hospital and consults in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also recently entered the political arena announcing a run for the Democratic candidate in the gubernato- rial race in Massachusetts. Much of his healthcare plat- form refers to his experience with the industry and deep understanding of how "good care could be." Dr. Berwick is credited to developing the concept the "Triple Aim" — better care for individuals, better health for populations and reducing per-capita costs. He was constantly attacked by the Republican Party for his out- spoken admiration of Britain's National Health Service which he regarded an "example" for the U.S. to follow. The New York Times went as far as to call Dr. Berwick "a symbol of all that Republicans dislike in President Obama's health care policies." 2. Leah Binder Leah Binder is the president and CEO of Leapfrog, an or- ganization that aims to help healthcare consumers make informed decisions by releasing information concerning provider organizations' safety, quality and affordability. Leapfrog has been criticized for its narrow focus on patient safety without recognizing other possible indicators of care quality, such as process of care and clinical outcomes. In 2012, Leah Binder authored an article defending her company's system for scoring hospitals for safety, saying that she and her coworkers anticipated backlash from hospitals they deemed as performing poorly. She de- scribed their expectations as four main strategies most likely to be used by the poorly reviewed hospitals: shoot- ing the messenger, complaining that the measures and methods aren't fair, dismissing the scores as outdated information and pointing to others who disagree with Leapfrog's assessment of their hospital. 3. Ted Cruz U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is the first Latino to hold the office in Texas and is the vice chairman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Although he has not made himself a popular man in Washington, Sen. Cruz is a possible GOP candidate for president in 2016. In a 2013 edition of GQ, Sen. Cruz was referred to as "The Distinguished Wacko Bird from Texas," who was becoming "the most despised man in the U.S. Senate." During the early discussions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Sen. Cruz vowed to push for its defunding and continues to do so after its implementa- tion, a stance once supported by much of the Republi- can Party. Most recently during a speech at the Road to Majority Conference, fearing "even greater" threats on religious liberty, Sen. Cruz called out President Barack Obama's administration for fighting legal battles against both Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor. 4. Ezekiel Emanuel Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, a medical ethicist and oncologist is considered a main architect and long time supporter of the PPACA. He is the brother of President Obama's former Chief of staff and current mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel. Although he is lauded by his supporters for his publica- tions concerning the ethics of clinical research, end-of- life care issues, euthanasia, the ethics of managed care and the physician-patient relationship, Dr. Emanuel en- dures wide criticism and has received such epithets as the "deadly doctor" — a term used to describe him in a 2009New York Post article by Betsy McCaughey that went viral. In it, Ms. McCaughey described Dr. Emanuel as someone who wanted to limit medical care for a "grand- mother with Parkinson's or a child with cerebral palsy." More recently, Dr. Emanuel expressed a highly contested position in The New York Times in favor of narrower net- works. He wrote an opinion editorial, "In Health Care, Choice is Overrated," in which he argues — amidst many objections — that narrow networks are not necessarily to be equated with poor quality. 5. Judith Faulkner Judith Faulkner is the founder and CEO of the $1.7 billion Epic Systems — a leading electronic health re- cord software for mid-size and large medical groups, hospitals and integrated healthcare organizations. In 2013,Forbes called the entirely self-made Ms. Faulkner, "The Most Powerful Woman in Healthcare." With EHRs becoming standard through the Health In- formation Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, complaints of cost have become fairly common and operational losses are not unheard of for hospitals and health systems adopting an Epic EHR. Epic has also been accused of being difficult to integrate with third- party vendors. 26 Most Controversial People in Healthcare

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