In the graphic above, we use the most recent data from software and analytics firm Strata Decision Technology to compare 2023 year-to-date (YTD) hospital volumes by admission type to both 2019 and 2022 volumes.
Compared to 2019, outpatient volumes in 2023 have increased by 14 percent, whileinpatient, observation, and emergency (ED) admissions are all down.However, compared to 2022, the reverse trend is true, with inpatient, observation, and ED volumes up from last year while outpatient volumes have dropped slightly.
This suggests that the net increase in outpatient volume and net loss in inpatient and ED volume over the past few years appears to be locked in. While the COVID-accelerated outpatient shift is here to stay, hospitals can take solace in the recent uptick in inpatient, observation, and ED volumes, which helps those still struggling to return to positive operating margins.
Importantly, there is significant regional variability among these volume data, suggesting that health system recovery will not be uniform.
Last week the Minnesota legislature passed a bill to initiate the creation of a public option health insurance plan available to state residents of all incomes. The bill funds an actuarial analysis of the policy and requires the state to apply for a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) waiver to begin implementation by 2027. The public option plan will build upon MinnesotaCare, a state health plan currently covering residents with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty line.
The Gist: Minnesota joins Washington, Colorado, and Nevada as the fourth state to authorize a public option health plan. But unlike these other three states, whose public option programs rely on private payers to manage risk and administration with tighter price controls, Minnesota intends to create a “true” public option in which the government competes directly with private payers.
Analysis funded by a hospital and insurance trade group found that a public option could reduce Minnesota hospital revenues by more than $2B over 10 years, while only lowering the uninsured rate by half a percentage point.
Though Minnesota lawmakers were more concerned with lowering healthcare spending and improving health insurance affordability for state residents, the success of the program will depend in part on how it negotiates with providers, who justifiably fear a worsening payer mix that further threatens margins.
Published this week in Bloomberg, this article explores the Department of Defense (DOD)’s rationale for reportedly piloting a partnership with Valisure, an independent laboratory, to test the quality of the generic drugs it purchases for military members, veterans, and their families.
The DOD’s current plan is to follow the example of Kaiser Permanente, which contracted with the same drug testing company to ensure quality standards for generic drugs that exceed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements. While the FDA has discouraged the use of third-party testing programs, recent stories of toothless enforcement for troubled manufacturing facilities have weakened the agency’s credibility.
The Gist: Amid the current backdrop of drug shortages and cost concerns, this article shines a light on the lesser-known issue of quality oversight of generic drugs. This is especially important as generic medications make up around 90 percent of all prescriptions dispensed in the US.
With generic drug production, largely a low-margin business, moving overseas, the FDA has increasingly struggled to perform oversight and quality control—though Valisure’s scientific methods have been criticized both in court and by the FDA itself.
While Pentagon officials have labeled the vulnerabilities in our drug supply chain a threat to national security, the problems the DOD is hoping to resolve are the same ones faced by all purchasers of generic drugs in the US.
On Monday, Minnetonka, MN-based UHG’s Optum division made a $3.3B all-cash offer to acquire Baton Rouge, LA-based Amedisys, one of the country’s largest home health companies.
Optum’s bid came several weeks after Bannockburn, IL-based Option Care Health, a home health company specialized in drug and infusion services, offered to purchase Amedisys in an all-stock transaction valued at $3.6B. Amedisys itself acquired hospital-at-home company Contessa Health for $250M in 2021. While its Board of Directors is now evaluating whether UHG has made a “Superior Proposal”, a UHG acquisition of Amedisys would likely be subject to significant regulatory oversight, as the payer recently closed on its purchase of home health company and Amedisys-competitor LHC Group in a deal that was heavily scrutinized by the Federal Trade Commission.
The Gist: UHG, the nation’s largest health insurer, is on a tear to bring the country’s largest home health providers under its Optum umbrella—and it has the deep pockets to outbid nearly anyone else trying to do the same.
While some questioned the value of an Option Care-Amedisys combination, UHG would get to plug another asset into its scaled continuum of home-based care, allowing it to steer beneficiaries away from high-cost post acute care and continue to increase profitable intercompany eliminations.
If UHG’s bid for Amedisys is accepted, it would also gain its first hospital-at-home asset in Contessa, providing it with the opportunity to fully redirect—and reduce—its inpatient care spend.
At the end of a meeting last week with a health system executive team, the system’s COO asked us a question: “Your concept of a consumer-focused health system centered around treating patients as members describes exactly how we want to relate to our patients, but we’re not sure about the timing. Could you give us a list of the ‘no regrets’ investments you’d recommend for health systems looking to do this?”
We frequently get asked about “no regrets” strategies:
decisions or investments that will be accretive in both the current fee-for-service system as well as a future payment and operational model oriented around consumer value. The idea is understandably appealing for systems concerned about changing their delivery model too quickly in advance of payment change. And there is a long list of strategies that would make a system stronger in both fee-for-service and value: cost reduction, value-driven referral management, and online scheduling, just to name a few.
But as we pointed out, the decision to pursue only the no-regrets moves is a clear signal that the organization’s strategy is still tied to the current payment model.
If the system is truly ready to change, strategy development should start with identifying the most important investments for delivering consumer value. It’s fine to acknowledge that a health system is not yet ready, but we cautioned the team that they should not rely on the external market to provide signals for when they should undertake real change in strategy.
External signals—from payers, competitors, or disruptors—will come too slowly, or perhaps never. At some point, the health system should be prepared to lead innovation, introduce a new model of value to the market, and define and promote the incentives to support it.
Real change will require disruption of parts of the current business and cannot be accomplished with “no-regrets investments” alone.
On April 1st, Medicaid’s pandemic-era continuous enrollment policy began to sunset, kicking off a 14-month window for states to reassess their Medicaid rolls. In this week’s graphic, we highlight new Congressional Budget Office projections showing the impact of Medicaid redeterminations on insurance coverage rates over the next decade for the under-65 population.
The Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage rate is expected to drop from 31 percent of all Americans under 65 in 2023, to 27 percent in 2024.
Meanwhile, after reaching an all-time low in 2023,the under-65 uninsured rate is projected to surpass nine percent in 2024 and climb to over 10 percent by 2033.
While over 15M Americans are expected to lose Medicaid coverage during redeterminations, a majority of those disenrolled will gain health insurance either through an employer-sponsored or non-group plan.
But over 6M people, nearly 40 percent of those losing Medicaid coverage, are projected to become uninsured, erasing nearly half the progress the country has made since 2019 at lowering the uninsured rate.
Walmart Health opened three new clinics in Jacksonville, Fla., starting June 6 as the company continues its push into retail healthcare, the Florida Times-Union reported.
The retail giant now has more than 30 Walmart Health centers across Florida, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois and Texas, with plans to grow to 77 by the end of 2024 and expand into Arizona and Missouri.
Florida is one of Walmart Health’s biggest markets, with 22 coming to the state by fall 2023. They are also located in the Orlando and Tampa metro areas. They include medical, dental, vision, hearing and behavioral health services.
“With only one primary care doctor per 1,380 Florida residents, these Walmart Health centers will help address the demand for care in three major cities in the Sunshine State,” David Carmouche, MD, senior vice president of omnichannel care offerings for Walmart, said in a 2022 Times-Unionstory. “We are part of these communities, and we are excited to bring more options for in-person and telehealth care services to our neighbors. We’re making healthcare available when and where you may need it.”
A number of hospitals and health systems are trimming their workforces or jobs due to financial and operational challenges.
Below are workforce reduction efforts or job eliminations that were announced within the past 10 months and/or take effect later this year.
1. Dartmouth Health is laying off 75 workers and eliminating 100 job vacancies. The layoffs came after the Lebanon, N.H.-based health system implemented a performance improvement plan in November.
2. Seattle Children’s is eliminating 135 leader roles, citing financial challenges. The management restructuring and reduction affects 1.5 percent of employees across the organization.
3. White Rock (Texas) Medical Centerlaid off 30 workers across 28 departments. The layoffs include clinical and administrative roles.
4. Jackson, Miss.-based St. Dominic Health Services is laying off 157 workers and ending behavioral health services. The reduction represents 5.5 percent of the hospital’s workforce.
5. Danville, Pa.-based Geisingerlaid off 47 employees from its IT department. The reduction is part of a restructuring plan to offset high labor and supply costs.
6. Cascade Behavioral Health Hospital in Tukwila, Wash., is winding down operations and laying off 288 employees. The 137-bed psychiatric facility is slated to close by July 31.
7. Cambridge (Mass.) Health Alliance is laying off 69 employees, reducing the hours of 15 others and eliminating 170 open positions, according to The Boston Globe. The reductions are primarily in management, administrative and support areas, a health system spokesperson told Becker’s.
8. Wenatchee, Wash.-based Confluence Health has eliminated its chief operating officer amid restructuring efforts and financial pressures, the health system confirmed to Becker’s May 16.
9. Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, a Duke LifePoint hospital in Johnstown, Pa., has laid off less than 1 percent of its workforce, the hospital confirmed to Becker’s May 15.
10. Community Health Network, a nonprofit health system based in Indianapolis, plans to cut an unspecified number of jobs as it restructures its workforce and makes organizational changes. The health system confirmed the job cuts in a statement shared with Becker’s on May 11. It did not say how many jobs would be cut or which positions would be affected.
11. New Orleans-based Ochsner Healtheliminated 770 positions, or about 2 percent of its workforce, on May 11. This is the largest layoff to date for the health system.
12. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center eliminated the positions of 131 employees and cut about two dozen other jobs at related Cedars-Sinai facilities, a spokesperson confirmed via a statement shared with Becker’s May 7. The Los Angeles-based organization said reductions represent less than 1 percent of the workforce and apply to management and non-management roles primarily in non-patient care jobs.
13. Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health is eliminating about 60 positions. A statement from RRH said the changes affect less than one-half percent of the system population, mostly in nonclinical and management positions.
14. Memorial Health Systemlaid off fewer than 90 people, or less than 2 percent of its workforce.The Gulfport, Miss.-based health system said May 2 that most of the affected positions are nonclinical or management roles, and the majority do not involve direct patient care.
15. Monument Health laid off at least 80 employees, or about 2 percent of its workforce. The Rapid City, S.D.-based system said positions are primarily corporate service roles and will not affect patient services. Unfilled corporate service positions were also eliminated.
16. Habersham Medical Center in Demorest, Ga.,laid off four executives. The layoffs are part of cost-cutting measures before the hospital joins Gainesville-based Northeast Georgia Health System in July, nowhaberbasham.com reported April 27.
17. Scripps Health is eliminating 70 administrative roles, according to WARN documents filed by the San Diego-based health system in March. The layoffs take effect May 8 and affect corporate positions in San Diego and La Jolla, Calif.
18. Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, part of Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, eliminated fewer than 40 positions, a spokesperson confirmed to Becker’s April 24. The layoffs represent 0.5 percent of the health system’s approximately 7,000-person workforce.
19. PeaceHealth eliminated 251 caregiver roles across multiple locations. The Vancouver, Wash.-based health system said affected roles include 121 from Shared Services, which supports its 16,000 caregivers in Washington, Oregon and Alaska.
20. Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica plans to lay off 26 skilled nursing support staff. The layoffs, effective in June, affect 20 employees who work remotely across the U.S, and six who work at the ProMedica Summit Center in Toledo, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed April 18. Most affected positions support sales, marketing and administrative functions for the skilled nursing facilities, Promecia told Becker’s.
21. Northern Inyo Healthcare District, which operates a 25-bed critical access hospital in Bishop, Calif., anticipates eliminating about 15 positions, or less than 4 percent of its 460-member workforce, by April 21, a spokesperson confirmed to Becker’s. The layoffs include nonclinical roles within support and administration, according to a news release. No further details were provided about specific positions affected.
22. West Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health is eliminating 100 full-time equivalent positions. The move will affect 45 individuals, according to an April 13 news release the health system shared with Becker’s. The other 55 positions are either recently vacated or involve individuals who plan to retire in the coming weeks and months.
23. Grand Forks, N.D.-based Altru Health is trimming its executive team as its new hospital project moves forward. The health system is trimming its executive team from nine to six and incentivizing 34 other employees to take early retirement.
24. Tacoma, Wash.-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Healthlaid off nearly 400 employees, most of whom are in non-patient-facing roles. The job cuts affected less than 2 percent of the health system’s 19,000-plus workforce.
25. Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital in Dixon, Ill., will lay off 20 employees, citing financial headwinds affecting health organizations across the U.S. It will also leave other positions unfilled to reduce expenses amid rising labor and supply costs and reductions in payments by insurance plans. Affected employees largely work in administrative support areas and not direct patient care.
26. Danbury, Conn.-based Nuvance Health will close a 100-bed rehabilitation facility in Rhinebeck, N.Y., resulting in 102 layoffs. The layoffs are effective April 12, according to the Daily Freeman.
27. Charleston, S.C.-based MUSC Health University Medical Centerlaid off an unspecified number of employees from its Midlands hospitals in the Columbia, S.C. area. Division President Terry Gunn also resigned after the facilities missed budget expectations by $40 million in the first six months of the fiscal year, The Post and Courier reported March 30.
28. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Healthlaid off about 50 workers, including C-level executives, the health system confirmed to Becker’s March 29. The layoffs affected Jesse Cureton, the health system’s executive vice president and chief consumer officer since 2013; Angela Yochem, its executive vice president and chief transformation and digital officer since 2020; and Paula Dean Kranz, vice president of innovation enablement and executive director of the Novant Health Innovation Labs.
29. Penn Medicine Lancaster (Pa.) General Health eliminated fewer than 65 jobs, or less than 1 percent of its workforce of about 9,700, the health system confirmed to Becker’s March 30. The layoffs include support, administrative and executive roles, and COVID-19-related support staff, spokesperson John Lines said, according to lancasteronline.com. Mr. Lines did not provide a specific number of affected workers.
30. McLaren St. Luke’s Hospital in Maumee, Ohio, will lay off 743 workers, including 239 registered nurses, when it permanently closes this spring. Other affected roles include physical therapists, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, pharmacists and pharmacy support staff, and nursing assistants. The hospital’s COO is also affected, and a spokesperson for McLaren Health Care told Becker’s other senior leadership roles are also affected.
31. Bellevue, Wash.-based Overlake Medical Center and Clinicslaid off administrative staff, the health system confirmed to the Puget Sound Business Journal. The layoffs, which occurred earlier this year, included 30 workers across Overlake’s human resources, information technology and finance departments, a spokesperson said, according to the publication. This represents about 6 percent of the organization’s administrative workforce. Overlake’s website says it employs more than 3,000 people total.
32. Columbia-based University of Missouri Health Care is eliminating five hospital leadership positions across the organization, spokesperson Eric Maze confirmed to Becker’s March 20. Mr. Maze did not specify which roles are being eliminated saying that the organization won’t address individual personnel actions. According to MU Health Care, the move is a result of restructuring “to better support patients and the future healthcare needs of Missourians.”
33. Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Healtheliminated 68 senior-level jobs. The job eliminations occurred Feb. 21, Cone Health COO Mandy Eaton told The Alamance News. Of the 68 positions eliminated, 21 were filled. Affected employees were offered severance packages.
34. The newly merged Greensburg, Pa.-based organization made up of Excela Health and Butler Health Systemeliminated 13 filled managerial jobs. The affected employees and positions are from across both sides of the new organization, Tom Chakurda, spokesperson for the Excela-Butler enterprise, confirmed to Becker’s. The positions were in various support functions unrelated to direct patient care.
35. Crozer Health, a four-hospital system based in Upland, Pa., is laying off roughly 215 employees amid financial challenges. The system announced the layoffs March 15 as part of its “operational restructuring plan” that “focuses on removing duplication in administrative oversight and discontinuing underutilized services.” Affected employees represent about 4 percent of the organization’s workforce.
36. Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine is eliminating administrative positions. The change is part of a reorganization plan to save the health system $40 million annually, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported March 13. Kevin Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, told Penn Medicine’s 49,000 employees last week that changes include the elimination of a “small number of administrative positions which no longer align with our key objectives,” according to the publication. The memo did not indicate the exact number of positions that were eliminated.
37. Sovah Health, part of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health, eliminated the COO positions at its Danville and Martinsville, Va., campuses. The responsibilities of both COO roles will now be spread across members of the existing administrative team.
38. Valley Health, a six-hospital health system based in Winchester, Va., eliminated 31 administrative positions. The job cuts are part of the consolidation of the organization’s leadership team and administrative roles.
39. Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System said it would lay off 346 employees, representing less than 3 percent of its employee base.
41. Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health plans to go from seven networks of care to five systemwide to reduce costs and strengthen operations. The reorganization will result in job cuts, including reducing administration by more than $100 million.
42. Arcata, Calif.-based Mad River Community Hospital is cutting 27 jobs as it suspends home health services.
43. Hutchinson (Kan.) Regional Medical Center laid off 85 employees, a move tied to challenges in today’s healthcare environment.
44. Oklahoma City-based OU Healtheliminated about 100 positions as part of an organizational redesign to complete the integration from its 2021 merger.
45. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center announced it would lay off to reduce costs amid widespread hospital financial challenges. The layoffs are spread across 14 sites in New York City, and equate to about 1.8 percent of Memorial Sloan’s 22,500 workforce.
46. St. Louis-based Ascensioncompleted layoffs in Texas, the health system confirmed in January. A statement shared with Becker’s says the layoffs primarily affected nonclinical support roles. The health system declined to specify to Becker’s the number of employees or positions affected.
48. Chillicothe, Ohio-based Adena Health System announced it would eliminate 69 positions — 1.6 percent of its workforce — and send 340 revenue cycle department employees to Ensemble Health Partners’ payroll in a move aimed to help the health system’s financial stability.
49. Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside in Jacksonville, Fla., will end maternity care at the hospital, affecting 68 jobs, according to a Workforce Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the state Jan. 17. The move will affect 62 registered nurses as well as six other positions.
50. Visalia, Calif.-based Kaweah Health said it aimed to eliminate 94 positions as part of a new strategy to reduce labor costs. The job cuts come in addition to previously announced workforce reductions; the health system already eliminated 90 unfilled positions and lowered its workforce by 106 employees.
51. Oklahoma City-based Integris Health said it would eliminate 200 jobs to curb expenses. The eliminations include 140 caregiver roles and 60 vacant jobs.
52. Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica announced plans to lay off 262 employees, a move tied to its exit from a skilled-nursing facility joint venture late last year. The layoffs will take effect between March 10 and April 1.
53. Employees at Las Vegas-based Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center were notified of layoffs coming to the facility, which will transition to a freestanding emergency department. There are 970 employees affected. Desert Springs is part of the Valley Health System, a system owned and operated by King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services.
54. Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health plans to go from five divisions to three in an effort to flatten management and become more efficient. The reorganization will result in an unspecified number of job cuts, primarily among executives.
55. Pikeville (Ky.) Medical Center said it would lay off 112 employees as it outsources its environmental services department. The 112 layoffs were effective Jan. 1, 2023.
56. Southern Illinois Healthcare, a four-hospital system based in Carbondale, announced it would eliminate or restructure 76 jobs in management and leadership. The 76 positions fall under senior leadership, management and corporate services. Included in that figure are 33 vacant positions, which will not be filled. No positions in patient care are affected.
57. Citing a need to further reduce overhead expenses and support additional investments in patient care and wages, Traverse City, Mich.-based Munson Health said it would eliminate 31 positions and leave another 20 jobs unfilled. All affected positions are in corporate services or management. The layoffs represent less than 1 percent of the health system’s workforce of nearly 8,000.
58. West Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health on Nov. 16 laid off 52 corporate employees as the health system shrinks from six hospitals to four. The layoffs, which are expected to save $15 million a year, account for 13 percent of Tower Health’s corporate management staff.
59. Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Healthannounced layoffs affecting an undisclosed number of staff in October, a decision its CEO said was made “to streamline leadership structure and simplify operations” in certain areas. The layoffs primarily affect nonclinical areas.
60. St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Clevelandclosed its inpatient and emergency room care Nov. 11, four days before originally planned — and laid off 978 workers in doing so. After the transition, the Sisters of Charity Health System will offer outpatient behavioral health, urgent care and primary care.
As the CFO remit gets broader and broader, the seat is beginning to attract individuals from different backgrounds, experience levels and skill sets outside of traditional accounting.
While this opens up a wider range of potential candidates, this also means the traditional pipelines to the CFO seat are becoming less and less reliable. For companies, that means succession planning is becoming more critical — companies should be less focused on hunting for already experienced CFOs and more focused on developing those leaders, said Jim Lawson, co-leader of Russell Reynolds Associates’ CFO practice.
“You really need to make bold moves and give finance people a chance to sit in roles that might take a little bit of time to ramp up to,” Lawson said in an interview.
The new CFO path
A recent study published in May by RRA, a leadership advisory firm, pointed to the rapidly expanding number of responsibilities today’s CFOs are juggling, prompting changes in who is interested in the role and the skill sets and experience needed for the position.
There are fewer CFOs today who began their careers at the Big Four accounting firms such as Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers, for example, while the number of less-tenured or experienced CFOs who hold CPA certifications has shrunk as well.
In 2012, 55% of S&P 2000 CFOs had CPA designations, the study found. By 2022, that figure was down to 43%.
Part of the reason behind the shifts in financial leaders’ backgrounds is that the skills needed by such leaders have morphed away from those related to traditional fiduciary responsibilities into operational and capital allocation talents or expertise.
“What we’ve seen in the last few years is while having operational experience continues to be very important, this theme around capital allocation strategy, (being the) external communication interface, has been the leading trend more recently,” Lawson said.
The change in the experience that CFOs are bringing to their jobs means that accessing and developing future financial leaders should be a top priority for businesses today, as the career journeys of many CFOs veer off from their historic paths. The number of financial leaders who hold MBAs could potentially fall in the coming years, for example, according to the RRA study, which found professionals in younger generations — such as millennials — are less likely to hold such degrees.
While the number of CFOs in the S&P 2000 who held MBAs increased to 48% last year from 42% in 2012, the percentage of millennial CFOs with such degrees fell to 38% compared to 50% for Generation X and baby boomer CFOs, the study found.
Certifications like CPAs and MBAs have become less common following a trend in the early 2000s when many companies stopped paying for the completion of such programs, Lawson said — and as a natural consequence, those certifications are less prioritized than they might have been previously when filling the CFO chair.
“Do you have to get an MBA to be the CFO of a big company? The answer is not necessarily,” Lawson said.
The new CFO career pipeline
Another trend that could be impacting where future financial leaders are likely to come from is the increasing specialization of finance talent, the RRA study said: in the past, certain larger corporations served as “hotbeds” for upcoming leaders in the space, thanks to rotational programs that covered a wide remit of roles, business sectors and use cases, the study found.
As specialization increased, that means the “direct reports to CFOs’ responsibilities within the finance function had become a bit more siloed,” Lawson said.
While experience at hotbeds of financial talent like the Big Four is still highly prized, RRA is expecting the number of CFOs that have that training to slump in future years — a factor that will also change who is tackling what financial responsibilities as well as the future career paths of finance leaders.
For example, regional or division CFOs now have the ability to be more strategic, because they are no longer the ones doing all the transactional accounting, statutory reporting and local taxes, Lawson said — which could also be one of the factors for why CPA certification popularity is declining.
The tech factor
New technologies like automation and AI are also changing the CFOs’ day-to-day responsibilities, which — while coming with some potential flaws or cons — could also be a positive for financial leaders.
“As tasks become more automated, it’s helping the CFO spend less time mining the data and more time analyzing the data, a difference which is really positive for the CFO,” Lawson said.
As CFOs’ makeup shifts to prioritize these operational skills, an emphasis on training is key for companies who want to tap future financial leaders for the seat. The emphasis on such experience — which means CFOs are also becoming more essential in driving business strategy, in addition to business execution — could also be changing the future career path for those who wind up in the chair.
The trend of CFOs taking on CEO roles at companies has increased, for example, and is likely to continue in the future, Lawson said, although he pointed to such moves being more likely in certain sectors such as manufacturing and perhaps less likely in sectors such as technology.
“I think we’ll continue to see more CFOs become CEOs as a result of CFOs getting a better opportunity to be part of the business strategy and capital allocation decisions,” he said.
HENRY KOTULA 