Trustee Articles
Health care governing board members confront a complex and changing financial landscape in their role as stewards of health care organizations. Hospitals and health systems have faced slim bottom lines for an extended period that have reduced available dollars to invest in organizational…
This 2014 National Health Care Governance Survey includes many questions from previous surveys that allow insightful comparisons of governance evolution over time. It also probes new areas to enable a better understanding about how hospital and health system boards are preparing for and responding…
This Mind Map, developed in association with innovation partner HDR, depicts a variety of business objectives in healthcare today that are top of mind for healthcare strategists.
With health reform comes increased demand for transparency about organizational performance and accountability. While most hospital and health system senior leaders realize this, board members, surprisingly, may not. As such, boards must have a clear understanding of their accountability to the…
Serving on the boards of a hospital system and its health plan offers a unique governance perspective. My journey as a student of governance began 10 years ago when I attended a course on board best practices. As president of the Health Plan Alliance in Irving, Texas, I thought this would be a good…
Great health care boards primarily focus on enabling their organizations to create innovative solutions that address community needs for improved health and well-being. They also address regulatory, competitive, resource and other challenges that sometimes may seem daunting, but these do not divert…
When someone walks into your hospital, his first impression is created by the physical architecture. But his lasting impression — and what he is most likely to talk about when he returns home — will be determined by what we call the “invisible architecture” of core values, organizational culture…
Recruiting board members is a challenge for every hospital and health system, but the task is particularly difficult in small communities. At Benefits Health System, Great Falls, Mont., our pool of candidates is largely limited to the city’s 60,000 residents, despite the fact that we are the…
Much has been written about the resources that hospitals should provide their board members to develop their governance expertise. Generally, a good orientation to the board’s work, educational sessions at board meetings, an annual retreat, periodic attendance at outside educational programs and…
This monograph addresses the multiple accountabilities of nonprofit health system boards for the cost, quality, and safety of the services their facilities provide, the manner in which these accountabilities are being fulfilled, and issues we believe warrant attention by system leadership in order…