Healthcare is Looking to the Tech World for Recruitment

It’s no surprise that the healthcare sector is full of executives with health-related backgrounds. A 2011 study of CEOs at the best hospitals in the US found that most CEOs specialized in cardiovascular care, cancer, and digestive disorders. And according to the Harvard Business Review, hospitals run by physicians—as opposed to those run by executives with only management backgrounds—receive quality scores that are 25% higher.

However, in more recent times, healthcare leadership is coming from a more technology-based background.

For example, Providence St. Joseph Health recently hired Venkat Bhamidipati, a former Microsoft executive, as its new CFO. According to Bhamidipati, his appointment will bring his new employer expertise in growth and business incubation—relevant skills in both healthcare and technology.

“Technology is impacting every single industry,” Bhamidipati said in an interview, adding that he was drawn to the healthcare sector because of its drive to provide passionate service to those in need.

Providence St. Joseph has already experimented with hiring from the technology sector, including Aaron Martin, its executive vice president and chief digital officer. (Martin previously worked for Amazon.) Meanwhile, Oscar Health brought on Alan Warren (formerly of Google) as its CTO and senior vice president of engineering.

Perhaps the most important technology/healthcare trend, though, is the use of technology to advance diagnostic medicine. Illumina’s GRAIL cancer diagnostic startup continues to make news as it takes steps to develop technology that will detect and treat cancer earlier than ever before. In order to accomplish this, GRAIL hired Google veteran Jeff Huber as its CEO.

Find out more about the partnership between technology and healthcare here.