This is the last week of our Women in Healthcare series, which we began last month in honor of Women’s History Month. Healthcare Finance News asked some of the women leaders in the nation’s healthcare industry to talk about the role of women in healthcare.
Today, we hear from Susan DeVore, president and CEO of the Premier healthcare alliance. Long before DeVore was promoted to the top spot at one of the country’s largest healthcare companies, she worked in hospital finance and spent nearly two decades with consulting company Cap Gemini Ernst & Young as a senior healthcare industry management practice leader. Since becoming Premier’s CEO and president in 2006, DeVore has led the company to be named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere.
Q: What role do women have as decision-makers/leaders in today's healthcare sector?
A: I am encouraged by the increasing role of women in both the cultural and professional aspects of healthcare. The statistics frequently point to women as primary healthcare decision makers. As part of a large extended family, I know, first hand, what it is like to navigate our healthcare system as well as support the ‘caregiving’ process. Professionally, women have clearly played a big role in leading the nursing and ancillary healthcare services areas, but we are also seeing an increase in the number of female physicians, technologists and executives among Premier's 2,500 hospitals and health systems and beyond. So, our role is clear and expanding, but the changes our healthcare system needs go way beyond gender.
Q: What do women bring to the table to shape the future of healthcare?
A: As a mother, grandmother, sister, daughter and friend, I know what I want from my healthcare system. And, I think my male counterparts want the same things. We want a system that improves health and well being; a system that gives us the best that science has to offer; a system that treats us as ‘people,’ not as patients; a system that doesn't harm us or cause unexpected death; a system that cares for us in the most appropriate setting; and a system that delivers real value for the costs incurred. And, we want this system to engage us in accountability for our own and our family's health over the long term. So, as we reshape our healthcare system to more effectively provide this, it will take the collective efforts of all of us.
Q: What do you personally believe should be the path forward to better care and lower costs?
A: Woodrow Wilson once said, ‘I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.’ I feel strongly that the path forward to better care and lower costs will require deep collaboration among patients, care providers, employers, insurance companies and government. Regardless of political points of view, we have to clearly define what a high performing healthcare system looks like, measure our performance and then drive continuous improvement ...We have to move from ‘pockets of excellence’ to a system of excellence that truly improves the health of our communities.
Follow HFN associate editor Stephanie Bouchard on Twitter @SBouchardHFN.