Witt/Kieffer, the nation's largest healthcare executive search firm, reported the following trends for executives it placed in healthcare and education in 2008, the latest available year. The company conducts more than 400 healthcare executive searches each year.
1. Typically promoted from COO rank. Of those rising to the president or CEO level, 44 percent had been COOs, 19 percent had been senior vice presidents and 9 percent were responsible for specialty areas (for example, vice president of a cardiovascular service line). Other jobs of origin were CFO (5 percent), chief medical officer (5 percent), consultant (5 percent) and professor (5 percent).
2. Typically come from outside the organization. The numbers suggest there are few opportunities to become CEO at one's current employer. Only 18 percent of CEOs were promoted to the position from within the organization, while the rest moved to another organization to become CEO.
3. Don't necessarily go to larger organizations for next job. While 47 percent of CEO placements went to larger organizations (based on net patient revenue), 42 percent went to smaller organizations and 11 percent moved to same-size organizations.
4. Usually move to new area for the job. In 74 percent of all placements, executives moved outside of their metropolitan area.
5. Usually move to same type of organization. Fifty-three percent of healthcare C-suite placements moved to the same type of organization (for example, moving from one hospital to another) while the rest moved to a different organization (from a hospital to an association, for example).
Source: Witt/Kieffer's August 2009 Executive Placement Study (pdf).