Resource Library

Board-led strategic planning provides an organizational roadmap.

Most boards and governance experts say boards should be meaningfully involved in shaping and ultimately approving the strategic plan and major decisions—but if they try to develop plans, they’re bordering on management. The tricky part is distinguishing meaningful involvement from development.

Securing board approval for a major new project can be a long and tricky process when the CEO proposing it isn’t sure which criteria trustees will use, and the board is equally uncertain what the yardsticks ought to be. At Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, N.Y., President and CEO Chandler Ralph asked her board to write down and agree on project evaluation criteria. In a two-hour workshop, trustees came up with 14 points that they now apply to every decision about whether to implement a new program.

As strategic planning becomes a more intense focus for hospital boards, lessons from publicly traded companies may be instructive.

Recently, I sat in a board meeting of a leading U.S. health system as trustees were discussing their strategic vision for the system, and how the rapidly changing health care field, marketplace and regulations were having a profound impact on its future.

Carolinas HealthCare System’s Journey to Revamp Its Mission & Vision Statements to Better Represent the Heart of the Organization

Elevate your healthcare experience with Carolinas Healthcare System. Learn about their mission to provide healthcare and related services.

See the attached sample strategic planning policy.

The dashboard or “balanced scorecard” has become a staple of effective governance. Charts and numerical data provide a comprehensive picture of organizational performance. Here are some questions to assess whether your board’s dashboard is as good as it could be.

The American Hospital Association’s report, Hospitals and Care System of the Future, describes a series of “must do” strategies and future core competencies hospitals will need as they transform themselves from first curve to second curve delivery systems, driven by a shift from volume-driven to value-driven payment systems.

This checklist poses questions about whether your board is following recommended practices for strategic planning.