Consumers Union CEO Ranks 11th on List of “100 Most Important People in Healthcare”
Following is the text of a press release, issued Monday, Sept. 14th, by Consumers Union. The annual “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare” list, by the trade publication Modern Healthcare includes Jim Guest, president and CEO of Consumers Union. Ranked number 11, Guest is the only non-profit advocate among the top 30 individuals on the list – as he shares the top echelon with the nation’s most prominent officeholders, business leaders and health thinkers.
In the past three years, Consumers Union has dramatically increased its resource investment in health care. Consumer Reports magazine published a four-part investigative series on health (which included an oft-cited article on underinsured Americans). In 2008, the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center was launched, which began with a partnership with the Dartmouth Atlas that publishes ratings of hospitals, and many other health products and services. Also, Consumer Reports Health published its Best Drugs for Less magazine, which compiled updated CR Best Buy Drugs reports – providing comparative information on prescription and over-the-counter medications. And Consumers Union advocates have had significant victories – in the states by passing patient-safety legislation, and in Congress, including passage of the landmark funding for comparative-effectiveness research in the 2009 stimulus package.
“Consumers Union has a 73-year tradition of ensuring that all Americans have access to health care that is affordable, safe and of the highest quality,” said Guest. “We may not be the largest or richest organization, but we carry the voice of America’s consumers.” Referring to Congress’ current debate: “Our broken health-care system needs action-we must ensure doctors and patients have access to objective information about what treatments or procedures work best for them, consumers need better information in choosing the safest hospitals and best providers and we must change the incentives in the system to improve care, reduce costs and ensure all Americans have access to decent, affordable care.”
Guest also celebrated the inclusion of Helen Haskell, founder and president of Mothers Against Medical Error, on the list (number 51). Consumers Union has worked with activists across the country like Haskell to pass legislation requiring public reporting of hospital infections in 26 states. “Helen Haskell earned her place among the political and financial giants on the 100 Most Powerful list by great use of the modest tactics of becoming an expert on the topic, organizing others, and endless advocacy.”
The methodology of the eighth annual List is as follows. Modern Healthcare readers submitted more than 25,700 nominations, up 76% from 14,600 last year. Modern Healthcare then placed the 301 people who received the most nominations on a final ballot, also posted on the Web site. From May 25 through June 26, readers visited the site to vote for the 10 candidates they believe should make the final list of the 100 Most Powerful. Readers submitted nearly 52,000 ballots with a total of just under half a million votes cast-a 10% increase compared with last year. The 100 people who received the most votes made the final list with the ranking determined by number of votes received.
100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare
Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare in 2009:
1. Barack Obama, President of the United States, Washington
2. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, HHS, Washington
3. Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director, White House Office of Health Reform, Washington
4. Max Baucus, U.S. senator (D-Mont.) chairman, Senate Finance Committee, Washington
5. Chuck Grassley, U.S. senator (R-Iowa), ranking member, Senate Finance Committee, Washington
6. David Blumenthal, National coordinator for health Information technology, Washington
7. Carolyn Clancy, Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Md.
8. Barry Straube, Director and chief clinical officer, CMS, Washington
9. Peter Orszag, Director, White House Office of Management and Budget, Washington
10. Andy Stern, President, Service Employees International Union, Washington
11. James Guest, President and CEO, Consumers Union
12. George Halvorson, Chairman and CEO, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif.
13. Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corp.; co-founder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Redmond, Wash.
14. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor, State of California, Sacramento
15. Nancy Pelosi, (D-Calif.), speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington
16. Richard Bracken, President and CEO, HCA, Nashville
17. Steve Burd, President and CEO, Safeway stores, Pleasanton, Calif., and an early advocate for national healthcare reform
18. Sister Carol Keehan, President, Catholic Health Association, Washington
19. Paul Diaz, President and CEO, Kindred Healthcare, Louisville, Ky.
20. Donald Berwick, President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Cambridge, Mass.
21. Henry Waxman, U.S. representative (D-Calif.), chairman, House Energy and Commerce Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington
22. Drew Altman, President and CEO, Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, Calif.
23. Pamela Thompson, CEO, American Organization of Nurse Executives, Washington
24. Newt Gingrich, Founder, Center for Health Transformation, Washington
25. Bruce Yarwood, President and CEO, American Health Care Association, Washington
26. Ronald Williams, President and CEO, Aetna, Hartford, Conn.
27. Bill Carpenter, President and CEO, LifePoint Hospitals, Brentwood, Tenn.
28. Leah Binder, CEO, Leapfrog Group, Washington
29. Joel Allison, President and CEO, Baylor Health Care System, Dallas
30. Pete Stark, U.S. representative (D-Calif.), chairman, House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington
31. Doug Hawthorne, CEO, Texas Health Resources, Arlington
32. Lloyd Dean, President and CEO, Catholic Healthcare West, San Francisco
33. Rebecca Patton, President, American Nurses Association, Washington
34. Christine Cassel, President and CEO, American Board of Internal Medicine, ABIM Foundation, Philadelphia
35. Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive director, California Nurses Association/Nurses Organizing Committee, Oakland
36. Nicholas Wolter, CEO, Billings (Mont.) Clinic
37. Dean Wilkerson, Executive director, American College of Emergency Physicians, Dallas
38. Susan Sheridan, Co-founder and president, Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, Chicago
39. Billy Tauzin, President and CEO, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Washington
40. Eric Holder, U.S. attorney general, Justice Department, Washington
41. Angela Braly, President and CEO, WellPoint, Indianapolis
42. Ann Converso, President, United American Nurses, AFL-CIO, Silver Spring, Md.
43. Karen Davis, President, Commonwealth Fund, New York
44. Stephen Hemsley, President and CEO, UnitedHealth Group, Minnetonka, Minn.
45. Richard Clarke, President and CEO, Healthcare Financial Management Association, Westchester, Ill.
46. Christine Varney, Assistant attorney general, antitrust division, Justice Department, Washington
47. Richard Umbdenstock, President and CEO, American Hospital Association, Chicago
48. Mark Chassin, President, Joint Commission, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.
49. Patricia Hemingway-Hall, President and CEO, Health Care Service Corp., Chicago
50. Karen Ignagni, President and CEO, America’s Health Insurance Plans, Washington
51. Helen Haskell, Founder and president, Mothers Against Medical Error
52. Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google, Mountain View, Calif.
53. Trevor Fetter, President and CEO, Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas
54. Patricia Gabow, CEO and chief medical officer, Denver Health
55. Georges Benjamin, executive director, American Public Health Association, Washington
56. Richard Feinstein, Director, Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, Washington
57. Wayne Smith, President and CEO, Community Health Systems, Franklin, Tenn.
58. Mark Leavitt, Chairman, Certification Commission for Health Information Technology, Chicago
59. Dan Wolterman, President and CEO, Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Houston
60. Joseph Swedish, President and CEO, Trinity Health, Novi, Mich.
61. Michael Dowling, President and CEO, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Lake Success, N.Y.
62. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, N.J.
63. Anthony Tersigni, President and CEO, Ascension Health, St. Louis
64. Paul Tang, Vice president and chief medical information officer, Palo Alto (Calif.) Medical Foundation
65. Eric Shinseki, Secretary, Veterans Affairs Department, Washington
66. Chris Van Gorder, President and CEO, Scripps Health, San Diego
67. Chip Kahn, President, Federation of American Hospitals, Washington
68. Kevin Lofton, President and CEO, Catholic Health Initiatives, Denver
69. Gary Newsome, President and CEO, Health Management Associates, Naples, Fla.
70. Harvey Fineberg, President, Institute of Medicine, Washington
71. Sister Mary Jean Ryan, Chairman and CEO, SSM Health Care, St. Louis
72. Betsy McCaughey, Founder and chairman, RID: Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, New York; adjunct fellow, Hudson Institute
73. Kent Thiry, CEO, DaVita, El Segundo, Calif.
74. Richard Foster, Chief actuary, CMS, Washington
75. Twila Brase, President, Citizens’ Council on Health Care, St. Paul, Minn.
76. Ilene Corina, Founder, Pulse, New York
77. Brent James, Chief quality officer, Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City
78. Deborah Peel, Founder and chairwoman, Patient Privacy Rights, Austin, Texas
79. Mike McCallister, President and CEO, Humana, Louisville, Ky.
80. Jack Lewin, CEO, American College of Cardiology, Washington
81. Thomas Dolan, President and CEO, American College of Healthcare Executives, Chicago
82. Jay Grinney, President and CEO, HealthSouth Corp., Birmingham, Ala.
83. Ron Pollack, Founder, executive director, Families USA, Washington
84. Ted Epperly, President, American Academy of Family Physicians, Leawood, Kan.
85. Scott Serota, President and CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Chicago
86. John Tooker, Executive vice president and CEO, American College of Physicians, Philadelphia
87. Joey Jacobs, President and CEO, Psychiatric Solutions, Franklin, Tenn.
88. Emad Rizk, President, McKesson Health Solutions, Boston
89. Alan Miller, President and CEO, Universal Health Services, King of Prussia, Pa.
90. Glenn Steele Jr., President and CEO, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pa.
91. Troyen Brennan, Executive vice president and chief medical officer, CVS Caremark Corp., Woonsocket, R.I.
92. Stephen Lieber, President and CEO, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Chicago
93. Daniel Slipkovich, CEO, Capella Healthcare, Franklin, Tenn.
94. Charles Martin, Chairman and CEO, Vanguard Health Systems, Nashville
95. J. James Rohack, President, American Medical Association, Chicago
96. Michael Maves, Executive vice president and CEO, American Medical Association, Chicago
97. John Rother, Executive vice president of policy and strategy, AARP, Washington
98. William Jessee, President and CEO, MGMA, Englewood, Colo.
99. Barry Silbaugh, CEO, American College of Physician Executives, Tampa, Fla.
100. Darrell Kirch, President, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington
Tags: Consumer Reports, Consumer's Union, Jim Guest, Most Powerful People in Healthcare