10 Healthcare Thought Leaders You Should Follow on LinkedIn

First and foremost, it’s important to understand that the healthcare industry is composed of a wide expanse of subsections, including:

• Healthcare facilities (hospitals, clinics, ambulatory services, etc.)
• Medical devices and supplies (surgical, specialist applications, manufacturers, etc.)
• Medical insurance (HMOs, Medicaid, pharmacy benefit management, corporate wellness, etc.)
• Pharmaceuticals (research, supplements, over the counter drugs, etc.)

With this vast expanse of areas within healthcare, it’s important for professionals to stay in the loop with what’s going on in their industry. No matter your role or subsector, one of the best ways to do this is by following industry thought leaders. 

Why Thought Leaders In Healthcare Matter

In the ever changing medical landscape, innovation continually drives the healthcare industry into the future to keep up with the modern advancements. Within this framework, thought leaders are the ones testing new ideas and sharing their expertise to guide the industry. 

With an industry like healthcare, it’s important to band together and learn from each other. You can join a community of other education-hungry healthcare professionals by following and engaging with relevant thought leaders. 

However, finding thought leaders can consume valuable time because you need to ensure they’re reliable and credible in their field. So how do you identify the right thought leaders to follow?

Simple – real thought leaders don’t simply write and preach lofty ideas. They’ve proven themselves professionally and can share exactly what they’ve learned throughout their career. They focus on creating content to educate other professionals with the goal of advancing their industry.

One of the best places to asses and learn from thought leaders is the well known professional platform LinkedIn. 

Follow These 10 Healthcare Thought Leaders On LinkedIn

No matter your role, whether you’re a leader in product research or a VP of marketing and sales, you need to stay informed in the healthcare industry. Otherwise, you risk quickly falling behind the pack of healthcare professionals who are looking to move forward into the future with the industry. 

Here are 10 of the best healthcare thought leaders to follow on LinkedIn:

1. Dr. Patricia Salber | CEO, The Doctor Weighs In

Physician executive and serial entrepreneur, Dr. Patricia Salber has founded multiple for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. She’s currently the founder and CEO of The Doctor Weighs In, an award-winning platform that utilizes digital media to share stories about breaking healthcare industry innovations. 

Salber’s LinkedIn regularly posts content about advancements within medicine and the state of the healthcare industry, including articles like Is the Future of American Healthcare Digital? and Barrett’s Esophagus: New Tools to Predict the Risk of Cancer. 

We strongly recommend following Salber on LinkedIn, as well as keeping tabs on her website, The Doctor Weighs In, for all of the latest innovations announced within the medical field and healthcare industry. 

2. Dr. David Bearman | Executive Vice President, American Association of Cannabinoid Medicine

Medical marijuana is very much still an emerging industry, but Dr. David Bearman has already established himself as a thought leader within this new field. His specializations with pain management, drug addiction, and public health supplement his experience with the medical marijuana field. 

As you might have guessed, much of his LinkedIn content explores breaking studies within the cannabis industry, including articles like Cannabis as a Neutraceutical and Medical Marijuana: Scientific Mechanisms and Clinical Indications.

If you’re looking to get a jump on the medical marijuana industry, Dr. David Bearman is the man to follow. 

3. Dr. Melissa Welby | Psychiatrist & Healthcare Blogger

Dr. Melissa Welby is an incredibly positive thought leading force within the healthcare industry. Through her work, she seeks to “eliminate stigmas [about mental illness] and inspire positive actions, both individually and for the world.” She emphasizes the importance of self care and building each other up for better recovery from mental illness. 

Welby’s LinkedIn content focuses on mental health issues as well as self care and generally wellness. Her articles are accessible and relevant to a wide audience, including material like tips to deal with anxiety and the importance of getting enough sleep. 

As mental wellness and self care have become more popular topics of discussion in recent years, Dr. Melissa Welby is the woman to follow to keep up with these important growing areas of healthcare.  

4. Nat'e Guyton | Vice President Patient Care Services and Chief Nurse Officer, University of Maryland Medical Center

Dr. Nat’e Guyton possesses diverse areas of expertise thanks to her experience in various fields – nursing, technology, healthcare administration, and organizational leadership.

If that wasn’t enough, she holds five degrees – a doctorate in management-organizational leadership, a master’s degree in nursing, a post-master’s degree in healthcare administration, a post-master’s degree in healthcare informatics, and a bachelor’s degree in nursing. 

She’s a truly impressive professional woman who really knows her stuff. 

While Guyton doesn’t post a lot of her own articles on LinkedIn, her feed remains consistently active with a steady stream of updates on conferences she attends and industry articles and informational videos that she shares with her audience. Whatever material this woman is paying attention to, you probably should too. 

5. David Edelman | Chief Marketing Officer, Aetna

David Edelman always has his ear to the ground to hear the coming changes of the healthcare industry, which he believes is on the verge of a revolution thanks to the rise of digital engagement. He’s the chief marketing officer at Aetna, a healthcare benefits company. 

If you’re a healthcare professional looking to stay ahead of the curve, make sure you follow Edelman. 

His LinkedIn content typically covers a few different topics – he covers all things in the healthcare industry including marketing, innovations, and management, with material like From Hospital to Home: The Healthcare Technology Revolution and Oxygen-Rich Management: How to Spark Innovations in 2019. However, he also occasionally covers general wellness topics like how health is defined for each person. 

6. Dan Gingiss | Head of Digital Marketing, Humana

Dan Gingiss specializes in customer experience, social media, and healthcare marketing. He authored the book Winning at Social Customer Care: How Top Brands Create Engaging Experiences on Social Media, one of the top 10 Forbes business books of 2017. 

As you might expect, all of Dan’s LinkedIn content focuses on marketing and branding, customer experiences, and social media utilization within a business plan.

His material is incredibly useful for healthcare marketing executives looking to boost the efficiency and impact of their strategies, including articles like Why Social Media Must Be Integrated with the Rest of the Business and 3 Things You Must Know About Customer Experience in 2019. 

7. Dr. Ola Brown | Founder, The Flying Doctors Nigeria

As stated by her LinkedIn profile, Dr. Ola Brown has a very focused mission: “To improve pre-hospital healthcare/trauma management across Africa.”

She founded an air ambulance service, and while her focus is primarily on healthcare within Africa, she also extends her expertise toward other developing countries as well. 

Brown’s LinkedIn content encompasses a wide expanse of healthcare issues within her area of expertise, including such topics as the use of contraception in Nigeria and Solving Africa’s Trauma Epidemic. However, Brown also touches upon some other challenging topics, like the suicide rate of medical professionals. 

8. Dr. Bertalan Meskó | Director, The Medical Futurist Institute

Dr. Bertalan Meskó is a truly exceptional man seeking to shape the medical and healthcare industry for the future. His work focuses on how science fiction technology can one day become a reality within these fields. His book on the subject, The Guide to the Future of Medicine: Technology and the Human Touch, is a top 100 seller on Amazon. 

Meskó’s LinkedIn content is ahead of its time, tackling truly futuristic concepts within medicine and healthcare, so if you’re looking to get a jump on... well, everyone, make sure you follow his work.

Some of his most recent articles include Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health Care, How To Teach Kids Digital Health Literacy, and mind-boggling topics like Will We Be Born in 2050? 

Meskó is an innovator, a futurist, and a truly exceptional thought leader within the medical and healthcare fields. 

9. Dr. Louis Profeta | Emergency Room Physician, St. Vincent Emergency Physicians

Dr. Louis Profeta may not a groundbreaking futurist, but he’s a medical professional who has become a leader within his industry by tackling some challenging topics. He works as a physician in an ER, so he’s seen his fair share of trauma walk in (and out) of the doors. 

Profeta’s experiences in the ER inform and shape the content that he posts on LinkedIn. He covers a broad spectrum of topics, under the larger umbrella of just general societal well being. He speaks at length about the dangers of drug addiction, self harm, and sociopolitical issues within the medical field. 

10. Dr. David Feinberg | President & CEO, Geisinger Health System

Last but certainly not least, Dr. David Feinberg is the president and CEO of Geisinger Health System, a healthcare provider in the northeast of the United States. His work with Geisinger has seen some innovative changes, such as eliminating waiting rooms in hospitals and doctor’s offices, and reviving house calls. 

These implementations are informed by Feinberg’s special interest in looking at how our society and environments impact our health and wellness – something we should all take an interest in. 

Feinberg’s content covers innovative topics, such as food as medicine and the connection between healthcare and prison reform. 

Engage in Thought Leadership Communities

These 10 healthcare thought leaders have built communities of followers who use their shared knowledge and expertise to grow professionally and become inspired within their roles. You can too. 

Follow these leaders on social media and engage with them and the communities they’ve built – sharing ideas and talking about both wins and losses within the professional field can help everyone grow.

Healthcare is meant to protect the public, and the best way to do that is to work together and continually look toward the future for improvements. Thought leaders can guide us there.