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Healthcare Landscape: Understanding the Evolving Roles of CMOs | Healthcare Executive Search | Healthcare Recruiters

Navigating the Changing Healthcare Landscape: Understanding the Evolving Roles of CMOs

Written by Bruce Henry, Healthcare Executive Search Practice Leader

The expectations and responsibilities of a hospital’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) have evolved dramatically over the past decade. In order to remain effective, CMOs have had to step into new roles and take on additional responsibilities.

Physicians and hospital executives are encouraged to move from fee-for-service medicine to value-based reimbursement models that reward quality over quantity. Many hospitals are under pressure from state-funded insurance programs and private insurers to reduce cost burdens while improving the quality of care they provide.

CMOs have an important role in helping their organizations respond effectively to these new challenges. Therefore, CMOs should be viewed not only as clinical leaders but also as business leaders who can help transform their organizations’ cultures while driving innovation and productivity gains that improve the quality of patient care.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused sweeping changes in the healthcare industry and introduced new challenges for executives. As a result, chief medical officers are expected to be more dynamic and adaptable than ever.

Understanding the Role of Today’s CMO

The job description for this generation of Chief Medical Officers includes an increased focus on revenue generation and managing budgets. This readjustment may leave the CMO with fewer hours to spend on direct patient care.

There is also a greater emphasis on overseeing clinical studies and regulatory compliance — all while maintaining solid relationships with patients, physicians, and other stakeholders in the healthcare industry.

The CMO, who might be referred to as the “quarterback” of the medical team, is responsible for:

Leading and coordinating care across multiple teams and departments within an organization.
Educating the hospital’s staff, ensuring that they are practicing evidence-based medicine
Providing leadership on clinical quality improvement initiatives
Maintaining adequate staffing levels within their organization
Supporting policy development to ensure compliance with government regulations such as Meaningful Use (MU)
Keeping their organizations in compliance with Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoP)

These tasks can quickly become challenging when you consider that MU/CoP compliance is not an individual’s job — it’s everyone’s job.

Today’s CMOs are expected to lead teams and manage all aspects of healthcare within an organization, including operations management and finance. They must manage their own teams effectively to ensure quality patient care is delivered consistently across all areas of the hospital or medical group.

The Impact of COVID-19

COVID-19 has shifted many responsibilities to chief medical officers, who now face significant new responsibilities that their predecessors did not have to manage.

CMOs are in charge of more than just patient care. They are also responsible for the health of their employees, which is why they must be prepared to handle any health-related issues that may arise among their staff members.

Chief Medical Officers must ensure that their team has adequate supplies and staff to provide care for patients at risk from COVID-19 infection. They also oversee efforts to identify new treatments and vaccines against the virus and implement policies regarding quarantine and isolation of suspected carriers.

The Impact of Changing Technology

In addition to having a broad range of responsibilities, CMOs must be knowledgeable about new developments such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology in order to stay current with changes in the industry.

The CMO’s role is changing as technology evolves. The CMO should:

Be a strategic partner, not a transaction-based leader
Understanding how to use technology better to serve patients, physicians, and other stakeholders

With an increased focus on value-based care and population health management, CMOs are increasingly concerned with how technology can improve quality and safety while reducing costs.

CMOs are constantly facing new challenges that require new abilities. Digital health technology and AI are changing how patients interact with their healthcare providers. CMOs need to understand how technology can improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.

The Evolving Responsibilities of Today’s CMO

The CMO role has changed significantly in recent years. In the past, one could describe a CMO as an “inside” executive who managed the organization’s medical staff and provided clinical services to patients. Today, the CMO is an “outside” executive representing the interests of patients, physicians, and other stakeholders.

As CMOs are challenged to improve patient outcomes, they must also work closely with other healthcare leaders to ensure that they design each patient’s care plan around their unique and evolving needs.

As a result, the role of CMO has evolved from a position focused on clinical quality and safety to one focused on:

Patient experience
Revenue cycle management
Cost savings
Population health management

In the past, organizations recruited CMOs from within the field of medicine. They often had little experience with business or strategy.

Today, companies are looking for CMOs with expertise in business or policy making. This background gives them a broader perspective on navigating complex regulatory issues and making critical decisions affecting the company’s bottom line.

Stepping into the Future of Healthcare

The role of the Chief Medical Officer is shifting as healthcare moves into the future. Now more than ever, the Chief Medical Officer has become a critical player in the healthcare industry. CMOs are expected to master a broad range of skills that may be considered outside their traditional function.

The CMO’s job has always been to provide vision, oversight, and leadership for the organization’s medical program. However, this role is changing as healthcare organizations embrace new models of care delivery.

With the influx of new healthcare laws, changes in regulatory guidelines, increasing attention by the federal government, and more complex healthcare organizations, there has been an increase in demand for technologically savvy executives and physicians with business acumen and communication skills.

As the medical industry continues to transform, medical organizations are working to ensure they have the right talent and experience to address new opportunities and challenges. Careful hiring and planning will help a healthcare organization assemble a leadership team that will bring continued success in a rapidly changing industry.

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