Resource Library

As this grid suggests, good governance decision-making, when supported by a variety of board practices and tools, strengthens the board as a whole and its capacity to govern well.

High performing boards learn how to make decisions at the right time using the right processes.

By adopting practices that embrace innovation, boards are better prepared to plan for change.

Continued changes in health care, both evolutionary and revolutionary, will require a steady hand and an open mind.

Governance restructuring efforts of eight health systems provide lessons on redefining what it means to be a community board.

Organizations must rethink their approach to build customer engagement and loyalty.

Webinar: A board only exists when it is meeting. This means that the single most precious commodity that a board possesses is its time together. The best boards consciously strive to use their meeting time efficiently and effectively.

Checklists A Trustee Checklist to Address Time Challenges As health care organizations face a number of emerging challenges, the compensation committee of the not-for-profit hospital and health system board is well served to review and update the executive compensation program periodically.

With training and support, physicians can become effective team leaders.

Boards can advocate for policy changes or ways to harness community resources.

Staying forward-focused as a trustee requires a combination of time management, prioritization and preventive efforts.

As payers shift financial risk to providers through more advanced payment models, trustees will need to help their organizations build new capabilities for succeeding under these payment arrangements.

Webinar: The first thing any effective board or leadership group does is decide how it will make decisions. Further, effective boards develop different, clearly defined processes to make decisions of different magnitudes. Yet, many boards have never had an explicit conversation about or developed multiple approaches to this most critical of governance functions — their decision making. This webinar will outline several different, practical and effective decision making techniques to expand your board’s tool kit of processes and techniques for making effective decisions.

The sample dashboards that follow provide examples for a multihospital system as well as a single community hospital.

Health care boards that take a broader view of “quality” and incorporate measures that reflect this understanding are better able to assess performance in the right areas.

The patient experience reflects the organization’s culture. The board must foster a culture that supports employees and providers to deliver the best possible experience time after time.

Up-to-date, clearly written and concisely constructed bylaws can support oversight of current performance and enable an organization to nimbly confront challenges to its viability.

Education, preparation and collegiality can empower physician and lay member trustees to make fair and thoroughly vetted decisions.

Health systems that take the time to assess the role and value of subsidiary boards, and invest in educating their members, can maintain a key community connection that might otherwise be diminished or lost.

The best boards revisit their committee structures, responsibilities and information flow to ensure detailed oversight while devoting more time to strategic and policy issues.