The Rise of the Company CMO (Chief Medical Officers )

It comes as no surprise that the pandemic forced companies to consider appointing Medical Officers to senior executive ranks. The majority of companies had to create a brand new role to lead the pandemic response and address the needs of organizations to manage global healthcare risks and exposures.  According to the workforce analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies, Chief Medical Officer postings rose from 1,776 in 2019 to 2,109 in 2020. Chief Health Officer postings from 1,211 in 2019 vs. 1,220 in 2020. This hiring trend is only going to continue to expand to most organizations.  

The CMO role has traditionally been associated with the healthcare organizations in public and private sectors as well as in pharma and biotech. The pandemic called on all companies from food production, hospitality and in sports to take responsibilities for employee health that went far beyond the traditional general oversight and wellness. 

There are three emerging areas that Chief Medical Officers are responsible for: 

·      Company’s Covid19 Response Coordination 

·      Pandemic Communication strategy 

·      Post Pandemic Planning 

·      Emerging Healthcare Compliance and Regulations 

·      General Employee Health Issues 

At this time, navigating the complexities of vaccinations, testing and ultimately post pandemic recovery could be a minefield in itself.  The task could be formidable without professional expertise on the Executive Team.  Take the following case studies of newly appointed CMOs: 

 Constellation Brands, a US spirits and beverage company, appointed Dr. Tim Malins as its Chief Medical  Officer in March 2020. Dr. Malins’ responsibility involved not only guiding the company through the pandemic but also helping chart long term growth and help create public health risk mitigation strategies.[1]

The Australian supermarket chain Woolworths, appointed its own first chief medical officer, Dr. McCartney at the start of the pandemic.  Not only did Woolworth’s CMO “hit the ground running” on the pandemic response but he was also strategically considering the potential requirements and regulations that might be necessary to combat the resurgence of global health events. 

“If you are not getting proper advice from a chief medical officer, how do you know if you are not exposed to liabilities in the health and safety areas?” Dr. McCartney commented in an interview to the Australian Human Resource Director.[2]

US National Football League has its own CMO, Dr. Allen Sills.  Dr. Sills made face covering for the coaches mandatory even though they got tested every day. Five coaches who did not comply were fined $100,000 each. Dr. Sills explained: “Tests are important, but no test is perfect.  . . So we think it’s just another step that’s important in risk-mitigation”[3] CMOs word goes a long way at NFL. 

Google’s CMO, Dr. Karen DeSalvo’s role extends beyond the firewalls of her company. She extends her expertise and support to public health initiatives in a broader community. Using Google’s platform and You Tube as vehicles to provide health reports, measure the impact of social distancing and offer necessary information to the greater public on testing and vaccines.[4]

While there are existing roles in organization that can provide partial support for this current emergency, including CHRO, Chief Legal Officer, Chief Compliance Officer etc. there are multiple aspects of the CMO responsibility that requires functional and operational expertise.  , In addition to the medical qualifications, according to the postings in Indeed and Linked In CMO’s skills include: 

·       Management experience

·       Industry knowledge of best practices

·       Employee training experience

·       Team collaboration

·       Ability to work well under pressure

·       Effective time management 

Salesforce CMO Dr. Ashwini Zenooz sums up her role best : “I take all of the things that I’ve learned as a doctor, whether it’s taking care of people, or being a clinical administrator, and I help companies understand what matters most in this industry.”[5]

The roles of the CMOs elevated at the time of the global pandemic are here to stay as companies are taking on more responsibilities for the well being of their employees and their communities. 

[1] HBR: Does Your Company need a Chief Medical Officer ?

[2] Human Resource Director (Australia)

[3] Yahoo/sports: NFL chief Medical Officer explains why face coverings are not "optional"

[4] Google:  The Keyword

[5] Salesforce News and Insights: The Doctor will see you now:  The Rise of Chief Medical Officer