In just the last month, we have two new CEOs of two of the largest EHR vendors in the industry. The news came out today that Cerner was appointing David Feinberg, MD as President and CEO of Cerner. Dr. Feinberg will also be a member of the Board of Directors with William Zollars as independent chairman effective October 1, 2021. Former Cerner CEO, Brent Shafer will assist Dr. Feinberg through the transition and Donald Trigg, current Cerner President will be leaving Cerner.
This is quite an interesting choice by Cerner. Dr. Feinberg was previously the President and CEO of Geisinger Health and has most recently been Vice President of Google Health. While Dr. Feinberg’s leadership experience is extensive, it will be interesting to see how well he does as the head of an EHR company. Although, Cerner has been increasingly diversifying away from just being an EHR vendor and so Dr. Feinberg’s experience at Google Health could be very helpful in that regard.
Just over a month ago, MEDITECH announced Michelle O’Connor as the new President and CEO of MEDITECH. While many outside of MEDITECH weren’t familiar with Michelle O’Connor, I’d heard for years that O’Connor who had served as MEDITECH’s COO for a long time was the heir apparent to Howard Messing. O’Connor had worked at MEDITECH since 1988 where she started as an implementation programmer.
I don’t think these two EHR CEO transitions could be more different. In MEDITECH’s case they hired from within (which is their culture) and had a slow transition from Messing to O’Connor that was planned over years. Plus, Messing is still around and serving as Vice Chairman of the Board.
In Cerner’s case, after the untimely death of Cerner Founder Neal Patterson, they’ve chosen to hire CEOs from outside of Cerner instead of tapping a leader from within the organization. Most seem to describe Brent Shafer’s time as CEO of Cerner as lackluster and so this change presents a good opportunity for Cerner. Time will tell if the choice of Dr. Feinberg will bring a new energy to Cerner as it continues to battle Epic and MEDITECH for the acute care EHR space and as Cerner continues to diversify away from just being an EHR company.
Speaking of Epic, their CEO and Founder, Judy Faulkner, hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down or relinquishing her role as CEO of Epic. She seems to be happy leading the company and will continue doing so as long as she is able. However, as Faulkner completes her 78th year of life, it’s not hard to see the day when Faulkner does like Messing and takes a step back from her role as CEO.
Let’s hear from you. What do you think of these new CEOs at Cerner and MEDITECH? Did they make a good choice? Will these new CEOs change the culture and direction of either company? What new opportunities does this present? Do you think we’ll see Judy Faulkner follow suit and take a step back from her role as CEO?
