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ACP endorses single-payer, public-option plans
Data Points: Want to live longer? Try a wearable
Transformation in healthcare is an imperative; we just aren't sure what we want to become
Insults from robot throw players off their game
Doctor flies patients to faraway treatment
Kaiser, Blue Shield pledge $45M to California housing fund
To double revenue, Advocate Aurora looks to add health systems
FTC supports bills bolstering advanced practice nurse autonomy
ACA's impact on racial health disparities has stalled
UnitedHealthcare expects big Medicare Advantage gains in 2020
Cigna, Oscar partner to offer health benefits to small businesses
Self-insured employers go looking for value-based deals
Week Ahead: MACPAC to assess Medicaid's role in helping pregnant women with substance use disorder
MedPAC recommends 3.3% raise for hospitals in 2021
Nebraska could pave the way forward for Medicaid work requirements
Participants continue to drop out of Medicare ACO program
Execs emphasize diversification, not admissions, during J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference
Reporter's notebook: J.P. Morgan's 2020 health conference
Week Ahead: Investors ready to hear healthcare financial pitches at J.P. Morgan
Government watchdog finds lax oversight of 340B discounts
Q&A: Children's National CEO aims to tailor treatments to his young patients
FDA clears 3D-printed airway stents developed at Cleveland Clinic
Cardinal Health to recall contaminated surgical gowns
Solutions to loneliness elusive for hospitals
Gwyneth Paltrow bringing her Goop brand to Netflix
Lack of insurance linked to racial disparities in breast cancer treatment
Bernard Tyson named to Health Care Hall of Fame
The ACHE honors three executives for transforming care delivery
Memorial Hermann names new COO
CMS Innovation Center names new tech chief
InDepth Special Reports
Screening behavioral health patients in ED reduces length of stay
Children's National Hospital uses robocalls to curb readmissions
Vaping-related cases lead to care guidelines from Intermountain
Children's hospitals collaborate rather than compete on patient safety
Patient advocate recalls two medical errors that nearly killed her
Recent safety scandals suggest healthcare leaders haven't learned lessons
20 years after 'To Err is Human,' hospital care quality measures are still of little use
To err is human. That's still true 20 years later, but some solutions to the problem aren't helping
Texas health system saves time by automating organ referrals in ICU
WiFi networks, Apple's tech help Henry Ford manage patient transport
Telemedicine helps rural hospitals meet intensivist shortage
HCR ManorCare deal laid foundation for ProMedica's growth
ONC's federal IT road map continues app, API push
ProMedica doubles down on social needs data analysis
Amazon taps first pharmacy for Alexa Rx management
U.S. hospitals see first decline in outpatient visits since 1983
Doctors and hospitals support value-based Stark law changes
Venture capital and health system investors are bullish on tech startups
New AMA partnership links docs with early-stage startups, investors
CMS advisers: New payment models should focus more on patient education
Hospitals sue to stop site-neutral payment policy in 2020
Bundles cut spending on joint replacements, but not for other conditions
Data/Lists
Rankings/Lists
Interactive Databases
Health Systems Financials
Physician Compensation
Bold Moves
Breaking Bias
Vital Signs Blog
How moving to City of Hope pushed Annette Walker out of her comfort zone
How Atrius Health stayed independent by not shying away from risk
Why moving the VA to a new EHR was a pivotal decision
Racism in the U.S. needs to be recognized and confronted
A deep-seated commitment to diversity and inclusion yields long-lasting rewards
A diverse and inclusive culture should empower others
Paving the path to diversity and inclusion
Taking legislative action to reduce workplace violence in healthcare
Healthcare leaders still learning how to offer value-based care
A living wage for healthcare workers is essential to achieve health equity
Letters: Proposed Stark law reforms could bring unintended consequences
Letters: Cleveland systems show how providers can promote long-term community health
Letters: Failing grade for EHRs shouldn't be a surprise
Letters: Let's keep humanity in discussions about patient safety
Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
How blockchain could ease frustration with the payment process
Three steps to better data-sharing for payer and provider CIOs
Reduce total cost of care: 6 reasons why providers and payers should tackle the challenge together
Why CIOs went from back-office operators to mission-critical innovators
Previous Award Programs
Other Award Programs
Nominations Open - Best Places to Work in Healthcare
Nominations Open - 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
Nominations begin March 2020 - Top 25 Innovators
100 Most Influential People
50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
Best Places to Work in Healthcare
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Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
Top 25 Emerging Leaders
Top 25 Innovators
Top 25 Minority Leaders
Top 25 Women Leaders
Excellence in Nursing Awards
Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
100 Top Hospitals
ACHE Awards
Sponsored Content Provided By Helix
Webinar: How Providers are Harnessing the Power of Genomics to Improve Community Health
Healthcare Transformation Summit
Critical Connections: Social Determinants of Health Symposium
Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
Workplace of the Future Conference
Strategic Marketing Conference
Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
Best Places to Work Awards Gala
Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala (2020)
Up & Comers all-stars: Thoughts about then and now
Modern Healthcare recently asked four past honorees to share their perspective about where healthcare was when they were chosen as an Up & Comer and where they see it going.
More Up & Comers Content
Up & Comers Podcast Q&A with Dr. Donald Berwick and Marna Borgstrom
Up & Comers Podcast Q&A with David Entwistle and Warner Thomas
2016 Up & Comers Gallery
Celebrating the 30th class of Up & Comers
Young leaders driven by a desire to serve
Dr. Donald Berwick, class of 1987
Then: Vice president of quality-of-care measurement, Harvard Community Health Plan, BostonNow: President emeritus, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Marna Borgstrom, class of 1992
Then: Senior vice president of administration, Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital Now: CEO, Yale-New Haven Health System
David Entwistle, class of 2008
Then: CEO, University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics, Salt Lake CityNow: CEO, Stanford Health Care, Palo Alto, Calif.
Warner Thomas, class of 2006
Then: Chief operating officer, Ochsner Health System, New OrleansNow: CEO, Ochsner Health System
What got you started on the path to healthcare leadership?
David Entwistle: I had aunts who were nurses, grandmothers who were nurses. I have an aunt who was a CEO of a hospital in rural Mississippi. I had the opportunity to visit her at work and see what they were able to do in really impacting patients' lives.It allowed me an opportunity to think about where I wanted to be.
Marna Borgstrom: I grew up in and around healthcare. My dad (a community physician) was a volunteer in so many ways that I got pulled into working in the health department, working at Planned Parenthood, things like that. … Getting into executive leadership for me came when I had opportunities to do some work for people (at Stanford and Yale-New Haven) who were important mentors, who were very strategic and very committed to evolving with healthcare.
Warner Thomas: I never aspired to be a top leader or aspired to be a CEO. I started off, actually, at Ernst & Young in auditing and consulting and then went to work for one of my clients in healthcare. I thought it was very interesting; I thought it was a very complex industry and most importantly, it had a higher purpose of helping people. … At the end of the day, you were there to serve people and there to help people, and that's really what was interesting to me.
Dr. Donald Berwick: (At) Harvard Unity Health Plan, which was my first real job in leadership, I was put in charge of quality of care. And the HMO had a program that they worked out with Harvard Business School in which we got training one day a month for several years. It was eye-opening. So, I was just lucky. I got into a couple of positions where people took me under their wing and taught me some stuff I didn't know.
"There's never been a more important time for strong leadership in healthcare than today to make sure we are communicating effectively to our physicians and to our employees why this change is occurring and why we have to deal with it. Many folks are just frustrated by the change or angry about the change. Leaders who are leaning in and embracing it are the ones who ultimately are going to succeed." —Warner Thomas
What were the major milestones in healthcare that you've witnessed over the course of your career?
Marna Borgstrom: When I started in healthcare in the late 1970s, there was a very traditional model. It was really driven around the needs, schedules and experiences of some very talented caregivers. They were orchestrating the entire experience that people had. A huge change in healthcare is the focus on being patient- and family-centered, on teamwork, and on recognizing that we have to do a better job of achieving value in healthcare, value that is defined as having consistent quality, safety, a strong experience for patients and families at a cost or price point that reflects the value they are getting.
Dr. Donald Berwick: If you look back over the past couple decades, we've made care better in very important ways. We can cure diseases today that when I was in training were uniformly fatal. We can transplant organs. We can do amazing stuff. But we are still shy of where we should be on patient safety, despite the efforts of many places. We're going to get that one nailed. I know we can do that.
David Entwistle: Consumers today have access to more information than they did before, both about their diagnosis and about the choices they have. They are starting to use that to drive decisions in terms of where they go, who they choose as their healthcare providers. At the same time, the Affordable Care Act is impacting the payer market by driving consumers toward having more of that onus on them in terms of the cost.
Warner Thomas: The Affordable Care Act is driving change that has been necessary for many years in healthcare, and I think it has now engaged the providers to really step up and take a much more proactive role in redesigning care, improving quality, reducing readmissions and waste in the system.
On cost
"We're going to have to take a deep breath in healthcare and stop being satisfied with marginal gains and begin to think about what a really restructured care system would be that would be better care at lower cost. That's achievable, but it's highly disruptive. That's really where the action needs to be in the next decade and a half or we're going to be sacrificing a lot of social good in order to shore up a healthcare system that's wasting a lot of money." —Dr. Donald Berwick
Does a leader need different skills today than when you started in healthcare?
Warner Thomas: The idea of constantly learning, working to make others around you better, being a good communicator, being able to lead through adversity and change. To me, those are as applicable today as they would have been five years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago.
David Entwistle: As I meet with students, as I take the opportunity to meet with my own team, and even as I look at my own skill set, the constant seems to be adapting as we try to respond to things that are changing.
Where do you see healthcare going in the years ahead?
David Entwistle: We've got to be able to use the information that we're getting. Our EHRs, our technology, our data sets are just providing a rich source of opportunity for us to be able to learn. The question is: Are we leveraging that data into knowledge? Are we using that to limit variation? Are we using that to make improvements? There's a tremendous amount of opportunity in healthcare that's now being driven by the data and the question is: Are we using our technology to do that?
Dr. Donald Berwick: On the population health front, we are way, way away from where we need to be. That is because we've underinvested in prevention and also because we remain inequitable in our society. I no longer think we can separate the pursuit of health from the pursuit of justice and equity. Healthcare systems are going to have to become activists in solving the problems of poverty and racism that are still with us and building community infrastructures that matter.
Marna Borgstrom: Healthcare has grown as a function of lack of investment in social infrastructure like safe housing, education and access to healthy food. Those social determinants are probably more important to invest in than investing more in the healthcare system. We, as a healthcare system, need to be part of helping to fuel a broader societal transformation. The challenge we have, though, is we have to keep a viable business model going while we're investing in the transformation. Right now, it doesn't pay us in any way, shape or form to make the kinds of investments in so-called population health that I think can really make a difference.
Did being an Up & Comer have an impact on your career?
Warner Thomas: It certainly was great to have the exposure. But it's not about an individual effort. It's about an organization, a team that I was able to work with and accomplish many things.
Dr. Donald Berwick: I was a maverick.I knew it. There were many other friends who were on this track in great places … but we were still pretty much outsiders and pretty much bringing a message that was a little dissident. To have the kind of encouragement that your award gave me, that was meaningful. It said, "OK, keep at it. Keep going. You're on a track here that's valuable."
Marna Borgstrom: I still am in touch with some of the people (in my class) who are all doing wonderful and really important things in healthcare. Every time you can build a group of colleagues who can be resources and you can reach out to—I don't think I've ever solved a single problem alone. The way that we solve them is by pulling in the best thinking of people that we've been exposed to. This recognition gave me a broader network of very important and accomplished colleagues.
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