About the list

For the list, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey over 140,000 women working at U.S. companies with at least 1,000 employees.

Respondents were asked to evaluate their companies on a variety of factors. These included how likely they were to recommend both their current and previous employers, as well as other companies they were familiar with through their industry, family, or friends.  

Respondents were also asked to rate their current employers on pay equity, parental leave, advancement opportunities, work-life balance, benefits for childcare or eldercare, and how the company handled sexual misconduct and discrimination.

In addition, Statista analysts determined the percentage of women in executive or board positions at each company.

Research and survey responses were combined into a scoring system to calculate each company's ranking. Recent data and responses from current employees were weighted more heavily than older information or from employees with second-hand knowledge.

Overall, 700 companies with the highest scores were included in the final rankings. The list includes healthcare employers across several categories, including "drugs and biotechnology," "healthcare and social services," "medical equipment and services," and "health insurance."

The best healthcare employers for women

In total, 49 organizations — including 26 Advisory Board members — in the healthcare and social services category made the list:

4. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta*

6. Hoag

8. Nationwide Children's Hospital*

9. Presbyterian SeniorCare

13. Cook Children's Health Care System*

17. Amedisys

20. University of Tennessee Medical Center

21. New York-Presbyterian Hospital*

22. Sarasota Memorial Hospital*

25. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

29. Yale New Haven Health*

33. Houston Methodist

36. Arkansas Children's Hospital*

38. Boston Medical Center*

44. Sutter Health*

47. Mercy Medical Center*

51. UC Davis Health*

52. UMass Memorial Health*

72. Compass Health Network

81. North Kansas City Hospital*

82. Home Instead Senior Care

93. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center*

94. Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

103. Ronald McDonald House Charities

105. Baptist Health System

109. Penn State Health*

128. University of Virginia Health System*

133. BayCare

134. American Cancer Society*

136. AHRC New York City

141. University of Rochester Medical Center

149. Denver Health

152. Guthrie*

167. OhioHealth

168. Tucson Medical Center

170. Duke University Health System*

177. MD Anderson Cancer Center*

178. Cincinnati Children's

179. Cedars-Sinai Health System*

197. UW Medicine

206. Lake Charles Memorial Health System*

220. Main Line Health*

221. Health First

222. Jupiter Medical Center

231. BJC Health System*

248. Aegis Therapies

250. WakeMed*

251. ChristianaCare*

252. Alzheimer's Association

*Denotes an Advisory Board member

In the medical equipment and services category, 24 companies made the list, including five Advisory Board members.

75. Datavant

158. CareCentrix

194. Arthrex

235. Cardinal Health

327. Teladoc Health

337. IDEXX Laboratories

346. Myriad Genetics

349. McKesson

384. Dentsply Sirona

397. Labcorp Holdings*

446. Meditech

452. Abbott Laboratories

457. Intuitive Surgical

481. Stryker*

485. Veradigm

512. Boston Scientific*

537. Steris

539. Hollister

585. Ansell

589. Edwards Lifesciences*

599. National Vision

627. Align Technology

636. Medtronic*

655. Athenahealth

*Denotes an Advisory Board member

There were also 22 health insurance companies that made the list, including eight Advisory Board members:

5. Mutual of Omaha

7. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee

12. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota*

130. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield

145. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Michigan*

148. Cambia Health Solutions*

180. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina*

188. Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield*

196. WPS Health Solutions

202. SelectHealth

229. Medical Mutual of Ohio*

275. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City

285. Florida Blue*

301. Independence Blue Cross

310. Health Care Service Corporation

344. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska

361. Healthfirst

367. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield

380. Blue Cross of Idaho

399. Blue Shield of California

465. UnitedHealth Group**

491. Humana

*Denotes an Advisory Board member

**Advisory Board is a subsidiary of Optum, a division of UnitedHealth Group. All Advisory Board research, expert perspectives, and recommendations remain independent.