Mayo Clinic CFO receives HFMA’s top honor

National Harbor, Md. - After receiving the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s most prestigious honor, Dennis Dahlen says he understands that the bottom line isn’t the only barometer of success.

Dahlen, the Mayo Clinic’s chief financial officer, received the HFMA’s Richard L. Clarke Board of Directors Award Sunday on the opening day of the association’s annual conference. The HFMA created the award to honor those who made significant contributions to the healthcare finance profession of the financing of health services.

After receiving the award, Dahlen said he is humbled to receive an honor named for Clarke, describing him as “the embodiment of national leadership in healthcare.”

“He understood that sound financial leadership, particularly in healthcare, particularly in nonprofit healthcare, is not an end in itself,” Dahlen said. “It's only useful as a means to advance healthcare.”

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Dahlen has served as the Mayo Clinic’s chief financial officer since 2017. Previously, he served as the chief financial officer at Banner Health in Arizona. He credited the teams he worked with at both organizations.

“As I reflect on the recognition, I also acknowledge that no one receives an award for lifetime service as an army of one. Every accomplishment, truly every accomplishment, in my career has been the result of working alongside remarkable people who shared a commitment to improving healthcare,” Dahlen said.

He also said that Mayo Clinic and Banner Health share similar values.

“Both organizations were and are driven by that same stewardship ethos that healthcare finance is ultimately about enabling and advancing care and health,” he said. “So behind every budget, capital investment, reimbursement strategy, and financial plan is a patient, a family, and a community depending on us to get a break.”

Dhalen formerly served as the HFMA’s national chair, and he told the hundreds of healthcare leaders in the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center that good healthcare finance officers must possess resilience and recognize their broader mission.

“The best leaders in this profession understand that finance and commission are inseparable,” he said. “Strong financial performance matters not because of the numbers themselves, but because it enables success in access and innovation, research, education, and compassionate patient care. When finance leaders are successful, entire communities benefit.”

Dahlen acknowledged the pressures on healthcare organizations, but he also said there are great opportunities ahead, including strides in medical research and the use of artificial intelligence. He said the future of healthcare delivery is possibly as bright as it has ever been.

He also urged the audience of healthcare financial leaders to look beyond the numbers.

“The next generation of healthcare finance leaders, I would simply say this: Never lose sight of why you chose this profession or your ability to influence the future,” Dahlen said.

“The spreadsheets, forecasts, and national models are important, but they're only tools in service of something larger,” he added. “Our responsibility is to help create sustainable organizations that can deliver exceptional care today and make it even better for generations to come.”