Resource Library

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 to the transforming health care environment.

Information technology can be the catalyst in transforming the health care delivery system.

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 advancement and forced many to change strategy, forego acquisition of new technology, delay physical plant improvements, reduce services and streamline staff.

A new business model is emerging to transform the care delivery and payment systems. The transition is underway in many communities — moving health care delivery from emphasizing sick care to addressing population health management.

Is participation in a super clinically integrated network (CIN) in your organization’s future? Here are some questions for health care organization boards and leadership to consider.

The evolving U.S. health care system will demand more standardization, reduced variation in outcomes and lower costs, necessitating new care delivery methods. A variety of models may emerge but physicians are the one constant to any emerging care paradigm, making hospital physician alignment imperative.

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 organization’s stakeholders in order to govern effectively.

A hospital-physician network spanning multiple partners may be an ideal fit for a smaller system

This article outlines agenda items for the board’s Executive Compensation Committee. It is the first of several that will further explore many of the agenda items discussed below.

A 2012 study of Governance Practices in an Era of Health Care Transformation conducted by AHA’s Center for Healthcare Governance found that work to create greater value is where hospitals and systems in the study— and their governing boards—are spending most of their time. According to study findings, participating organizations “are concentrating on the nuts and bolts of… reducing costs and improving care quality.” The work is wide-ranging and intensive:

An emergency succession plan may never be used, but it’s still a necessity for every hospital. A key function of every board is to ensure that effective leadership is in place so that the institution it governs can continue to achieve its mission, vision and strategic goals.

Given the sweeping changes in health care, forward-thinking hospitals, systems and medical centers are carefully evaluating board member succession and recruitment. The challenging environment in which these organizations operate requires strong, knowledgeable boards whose members have deep insights into the field and a fundamental understanding of business, management practices and how to compete in a highly competitive market.

Don’t overlook the importance of CEO-board etiquette — it’s a pillar of good governance. The relationship between boards and chief executive officers can be fraught with challenges, and trustees often are unsure of how to handle certain delicate situations. But using a framework of etiquette can provide guidance.

As hospitals buy physician practices, board compensation oversight must shift into high gear.

Society and industries are always evolving; revolutionary change occurs sporadically when powerful forces align to disrupt the old order. The health care delivery system today is in the midst of an historic transformation to redesign how care is delivered. The quite immodest aim is to take 20 to 30 percent of costs out of the system while maintaining or improving clinical outcomes and patients’ health.

Although scorecards that measure health system performance against established metrics have become an increasingly common and useful tool in the trustee’s governance toolbox, finding concrete, comprehensive ways to measure how well the organization is achieving its strategic goals — and, in turn, determining incentive compensation based on goal achievement — can be a daunting, ephemeral task. Here’s how one health care system has successfully connected all the dots.

With CEO support and opportunities for education, trustees can become better hospital leaders

Mentoring, a process that pairs board members who are new to their roles with more seasoned board and executive resources for growth and development, traditionally has been used by health care boards to orient new trustees for board service.