The Blue Ribbon Panel on Governance Practices in an Era of Health Care Transformation made 19 recommendations for how hospital boards can help transform healthcare in a report by the American Hospital Association Center for Healthcare Governance.
The panel suggested eight "bold board moves" — actions board members can take to transform governance practices — and 11 practices to transform healthcare.
Bold board moves
1. Identify competencies for transformational governance; assess and fill gaps.
2. Determine applicability of emerging governance models: expert, community-based and clinical enterprise boards.
3. Determine whether board member compensation is necessary and permissible.
4. For multiple-board healthcare systems and individual healthcare organizations joining larger systems, consider a broader role for community leaders in the healthcare enterprise.
5. Ensure board membership reflects communities served.
6. Adopt a high-performance culture.
7. Adopt governance best practices.
8. Evaluate performance at all levels of governance.
Practices to transform healthcare
1. Understand and oversee continuous improvement in performance.
2. Have candid discussions about what transformation means for the organization.
3. Broaden compliance and enterprise risk management.
4. Strengthen board and organization capabilities to manage change.
5. Ensure development of patient and family engagement strategies.
6. Develop governance dashboards with "bifocal metrics" that assess today's performance and shape future outcomes.
7. Encourage collaboration among providers to build the care systems of the future.
8. Actively oversee physician alignment/integration, engagement and leadership development strategies.
9. Use results of community health needs assessment to set strategy.
10. Assess the capabilities of executives to lead transformational change.
11. Create a compelling vision for the future.
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The panel suggested eight "bold board moves" — actions board members can take to transform governance practices — and 11 practices to transform healthcare.
Bold board moves
1. Identify competencies for transformational governance; assess and fill gaps.
2. Determine applicability of emerging governance models: expert, community-based and clinical enterprise boards.
3. Determine whether board member compensation is necessary and permissible.
4. For multiple-board healthcare systems and individual healthcare organizations joining larger systems, consider a broader role for community leaders in the healthcare enterprise.
5. Ensure board membership reflects communities served.
6. Adopt a high-performance culture.
7. Adopt governance best practices.
8. Evaluate performance at all levels of governance.
Practices to transform healthcare
1. Understand and oversee continuous improvement in performance.
2. Have candid discussions about what transformation means for the organization.
3. Broaden compliance and enterprise risk management.
4. Strengthen board and organization capabilities to manage change.
5. Ensure development of patient and family engagement strategies.
6. Develop governance dashboards with "bifocal metrics" that assess today's performance and shape future outcomes.
7. Encourage collaboration among providers to build the care systems of the future.
8. Actively oversee physician alignment/integration, engagement and leadership development strategies.
9. Use results of community health needs assessment to set strategy.
10. Assess the capabilities of executives to lead transformational change.
11. Create a compelling vision for the future.
More Articles on Transforming Healthcare:
AHA Report Calls on Hospital Boards to Help Transform HealthcareTransforming Healthcare: A Conversation With Presence Health CEO Sandra Bruce & St. Joseph Health CEO Deborah Proctor
How Healthcare Can Achieve A Fundamentally Different Future: Q&A With the Authors of "Healthcare at a Turning Point"