What would be your advice for C- Suite hiring across Healthcare Delivery System?

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics defines a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as a professional who determines and formulates policies and provides overall direction of companies within guidelines set up by a board of directors or similar governing body. They are involved in the planning, direction, and coordination of day-to-day operations at the highest level of management with the help of assistant executives and staff managers.

A hospital CEO has the responsibility to ensure almost every aspect of how hospitals perform is working efficiently. They need to find a balance in managing the day-to-day operations while leading strategic development initiatives required for long-term success.

Most healthcare CEOs are already planning ways to keep up with the pace and take advantage of what technology can offer: 89%plan to improve their ability to innovate; 93%plan to change their technology investments;and 95% are exploring better ways of using and managing big data.*

There’s a big gap between where healthcare CEOs are now, and where they want to be.Only 25% have already started or completed changes to make their companies more innovative; merely 33% have altered their technology investments, and just 36% have made any headway in getting to grips with big data*…and only a minority of CEO’s believe that their teams are well-prepared. Only 31% of healthcare CEOs say their R&D functions are well prepared and only 41% say their IT functions are well prepared, to capitalize on the trends now shaping the world.*

(*17th Annual Global CEO Survey – Key Findings in the Healthcare Industry, PWC)

In other words, the skills that help you climb to the top won’t suffice once you get there.

Can external talent fill in a C-suite position in Healthcare?

Changes in the C-suite can have a profound effect on an entire organization, regardless of the industry in which the enterprise operates. If the right selections are made, the overall impact will be positive, but the wrong choices may result in negative fallout. It could be said that the stakes are especially high for organizations in the health sector – after all, for these enterprises, the term “life or death” isn’t just a figure of speech.

Several factors are having an impact on succession planning and CEO turnover at health care companies. First, the industry is highly regulated, which always adds complexity to business operations. Second, the industry has traditionally been so broad in scope that executives in one health care sub sector have a steep learning curve if they move to another.However; in recent years, health care M&A activity has blurred the lines between those sub sectors. As a result, many companies now need a CEO with experience in more than one specialty.

Though for many healthcare companies today, the internal talent simply doesn’t match up with the experience successful CEOs will need going forward. Therefore, boards and CEO’s are likely to hire executives for roles two or three levels below the CEO so they can be groomed to take on the top job one day.

Hospital expansion in India has become imminent as the norms and needs are changing. Given the country’s current demographics, there’s dearth of leadership in healthcare.