For decades, healthcare has been a difficult and highly controlled enterprise. Before 2013, senior managers and the boards that supervise them could count on a system that was stable and predictable.
But that all changed with advent of an unprecedented shift in reimbursement and changes in patient safety and quality standards, which are reshaping how healthcare organizations function to remain competitive. These shifts have created new challenges for healthcare boards.
In the course of our research, we talked to opinion leaders who cited three types behaviours of healthcare boards that they considered to be particularly significant:
A reputable board should insist on the right information. It must emphasize the importance of quality and safety goals and give trustees concrete goals. This involves using National Quality Forum-endorsed measures and developing a robust benchmarking strategy which identifies the top performers and is aware of the processes they use. The goal is to empower trustees so that they can push each hospital to improve their quality and eliminate mistakes.
The board should also enlist trustees who are experts in the science of quality and safety (e.g. high reliability, Six Sigma) to serve as chairmen and members of the quality committee of the board. These people should ideally come from other industries, including nuclear power or aviation. This will ensure that the board has a specialist available to guide and support the CEO and other employees in setting and achieving the correct goals and ensuring that the healthcare leadership is doing everything it can to improve performance.
www.safedata.blog/healthcare-leadership-unveiled-exploring-the-roles-of-hospital-boards-of-directors