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This November election had much at stake – particularly for the healthcare industry. Reelecting President Obama assured the continuance of controversial policies, most notably the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A Romney presidency meant the end of the ACA.

After Healthcare IT News analyzed the personal political contributions (from the 2011-2012 election cycle) of more than 200 top executives at some of the nation's largest hospitals and healthcare systems, the results came as a bit of surprise.

Some 50.3 percent of healthcare executives' personal contributions were donated to the Republican Party, and 49.7 percent were donated to the Democratic Party.

Furthermore, 36.8 percent of healthcare executives donated exclusively to the Democrats, in comparison to the 24.8 percent who donated exclusively to the GOP.

The top giver to the Republicans was Prem Reddy, CEO of Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services – a healthcare system comprising 20 acute care hospitals across California, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Texas.

Reddy donated $140,600 to Republican candidates from 2011 to 2012, outspending the top Democratic spender more than two-to-one.

Reddy's generous donations, however, have been controversial, placing him at the center of several investigations – one concerning potential tax evasion allegations.

Prem Reddy, CEO, Prime Healthcare   Paul Diaz, CEO of Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare is the top donor for the Democrats, to whom he gave $60,700 from 2011 to 2012. Kindred Healthcare, a Fortune 500 company with more than 78,000 employees across 46 states, is one of the largest healthcare providers in the U.S.

Aside from the top 15 spenders listed in the above infographic, other heavy hitters for the Democrats include Trevor Fetter, CEO of Tenet Healthcare Corp., and Lloyd Dean, CEO of Dignity Health.

Wayne Smith, CEO of Community Health Systems and Charles Martin, CEO of Vanguard Health Systems are among the top spenders for the Republicans.