Board Development

Hospital boards are different from boards in other industries. Hospital boards have complete responsibility for what happens to patients within a hospital. Many boards focus on financial matters and business development, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) assign responsibility for all clinical matters to the board. In fact, when state agencies, following CMS’ guidance, cite hospitals for severe deficiencies, board-level deficiencies are usually cited.

The hospital board fulfills its responsibilities not only by hiring, evaluating, and coaching the Chief Executive Officer, but also by knowing how to govern and monitor, without engaging in the actual management of, the institutional responsibilities it has for clinical quality, patient rights, compliance, medical staff performance, and financial success, including fund development.

But few board members receive the orientation and continued education needed to prepare for assuming and filling these critical roles. And though board self-evaluation is a requirement for many accreditation organizations, few boards engage in a meaningful process of self-assessment and planning for required competency development.

Decades of work with CEOs and boards have fine-tuned the Compass Clinical Consulting’s approach to board development. Our underlying philosophy is built on four principles:

• The relationship between the CEO and members of the board is a critical component of organizational success.
• There is definition about the board’s governance role and how it fulfills this role.
• The CEO and the board set and guide institutional strategy from a position based on industry knowledge, local/regional market awareness, and understanding of a wide range of factors that make hospitals complex organizations.
• Development planning state should be customized by the unique needs and requirements of each hospital and community.

This approach to board development follows an efficient process that includes:

• An assessment based on multiple characteristics of successful boards
• Tailored planning designed to address board development opportunities
• Management of plan implementation

Compass adds additional value to the development process by providing boards with an objective assessment of performance that complements self-assessments, as well as by providing assistance in the adoption of best practices.

To learn more about our Board Development services, send us an email or contact our office at (513) 241.0142.