The Changing Face of Healthcare Boards

摘要

Healthcare governing boards are undergoing transformation in response to the rapidly changing environment of the business of healthcare delivery. The days when local community leaders were appointed to the hospital board as a sign of status, when they were not expected to have in-depth healthcare knowledge or expertise, are fading quickly. Now when an individual is nominated to serve on a healthcare board, serious consideration has to be given to his or her ability to learn an extraordinarily complex field and commit the time and energy necessary to fulfill the fiduciary duties and obligations required of a trustee. In the feature articles, Orlikoff and Middleton each appropriately describes the challenges facing healthcare boards in today's changing business milieu and in a period of increased scrutiny because of corporate failures and an erosion of public trust. It is time for chief executive officers (CEOs) and board leaders to revitalize their boards for successful governance. This renewal of purpose is imperative because, as Kovner (1990) and Sofaer, Lammers, and Pourat (1991) have found, underperforming hospital governing boards may result in poor organizational performance of the hospital. Healthcare organizations must perform effectively, provide quality care, and maintain a good reputation in the community that it serves because their performance is vital to the health of their community. Thus, because the governing board is ultimately accountable for that performance, it is important for healthcare executives to understand the role that the board plays.