Expanding the leadership pool to include more women isn’t just a moral initiative, according to a panel of health IT executives at HIMSS 2017 in Orlando. It can also be essential for success for any healthcare organization.

Among those offering their perspective on gender diversity in leadership was Denise Hines, DHA, CEO of eHealth Services Group in Atlanta. Hines said after many years at other companies, she found eHealth to provide the flexibility and “control over her career destiny” that she desired with a growing family. Since she’s in charge, she’s been able to lead by example with diverse leaders in her own company.

For other companies, it may take some courage by lower-level employees to speak up about a lack of diversity.

“The advice I would have for anyone is to start with the first level of management,” Hines said, “to let them know that you see something that you would like to have changed or offer input on how to change. Sometimes managers or supervisors might not even be aware that the workforce is not diverse enough.”

For companies, it’s in their best interest to groom more women to serve in leadership roles. For one, Hines said without a path to those higher-level positions, talented women may just leave for greener pastures. But there are also strategic advantages to having diverse voices in the room when decisions need to be made.

“When you’re thinking about even the smallest thing about user interface versus who are we trying to serve and why, if you don’t have full spectrum perspective, which I think is not only full gender perspective, but every aspect of what makes us diverse, in those decisions then you ultimately won’t succeed,” said Ruben Amarasingham, MD, MBA, president and CEO of Dallas-based Pieces Technologies.

Obstacles to greater diversity in leadership remain, both said, particularly when it comes to pay. The gap in compensation between men and women in healthcare has grown over the past decade, Hines said, and the disparity continues to be an issue among physicians.

That can change, Amarasingham said, if the organization is committed to changing it.

“We’ve been able to essentially achieve gender parity on salary,” he said. “Part of that was (being) heavily focused on the talent. Are we taking off all of our blinders as we’re think about adjustments and promotions?”

For women looking to move up in the executive ranks, Hines advised them to be more aggressive when it comes to negotiating pay, maintain a good reputation and make networking a priority. Above all else, however, she said women have to be sure that they want to leave behind more hands-on clinical work to be in the C-suite.