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.

Health care boards face increasing time pressures. Demands on boards’ time include expanding organizational scope, facing uncertain marketplace forces, addressing heightened demands for accountability and transparency, and implementing governance best practices.

Boards must use scarce meeting time together wisely, focusing on organizational future while providing perspective and making decisions to generate value for stakeholders over the long term. A good rule of thumb is boards should spend a majority of time on forward-focused matters.

Trustee morale declines when boards spend too much time on lower value activities, such as receiving information and reviewing administrative matters with questionable need for governance input. Maximizing time spent creating value requires a combination of management, prioritization and preventive efforts.

Individual board members and board chairs can take the following steps to learn more about the problem and galvanize support for action.

Adapted from "How to Make the Most of Your Board's Time,” by Steve Gordon, M.D. (Trustee Insights, Nov. 2019).