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This resource is intended to be an example that boards should adapt to meet their individual needs.

The attached resource is intended to be an example that boards should adapt to meet their individual needs.

A board committed to continuous improvement realizes that the value of assessing its performance goes beyond meeting Joint Commission or other external requirements. It knows that regular self-evaluation gives it the information needed to understand and build on its strengths and identify and minimize its weaknesses.

The 2007 report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Health Care Governance focused on building a foundation for exceptional governance and included several tools and practices to help boards move from good to great performance.

Almost all hospitals face the issue of not having enough money to accomplish everything they would like to. So how does the board pick among winning ideas when it can’t afford them all? The resources needed to support operations and implement strategic initiatives can far surpass those available.

The following document is intended to be an example that boards should adapt to meet their individual needs.

SAMPLE COMMITTEE CHARTER: EXECUTIVE EVALUATION AND COMPENSATION COMMITTEE Overall Roles and Responsibilities

The Audit and Corporate Compliance Committee recommends policies and processes to the board related to...

Working committees are the engine that powers effective boards. As their responsibilities increase, boards depend on their committees to engage in careful analysis and oversight of the organizationʼs performance plus a thorough vetting of recommendations before they are submitted to the full board. When committees do their job well and make concise reports to the board, they free up time to use full board meetings for education and open discussion on important strategic and policy issues.

The following is intended to be an example that boards should adapt to meet their individual needs.

Hospital boards are beginning to take best practice cues from their corporate counterparts and modernize their communication methods by adopting board portals. A board portal is a secure “host”— i.e., an online storage system for managing trustee communications.

Effective board leadership transitions can be facilitated by institutionalizing basic tools and processes. These include setting term limits for those in board leadership positions, periodic evaluations based on clear job descriptions and assessment of potential barriers to successful CEO relationships.

“What is the difference between governance and management?” is by far the question that not-for-profit executives and directors ask most often. Effective boards understand the difference between governing and managing; dysfunctional boards do not.

Elaine Zablocki found that recruiting more minorities and women to the board takes new ways of thinking about, recruiting and orienting directors.

Hospitals and health systems generally employ more physicians than executives. At the same time itʼs likely that the board of directors spends far more time on compensation issues in the C-suite than on physician compensation and its associated regulatory and business risks.

Asset stewardship has long been a key board responsibility. As fiduciaries of a health care organization’s assets, governing boards are required to act in the best interest of the organization, ensuring that resources are used in a reasonable, appropriate and legally accountable way to meet community health care needs.

This is the second in a series of collaborative leadership tools for CEOs. The first one presented a new model of collaborative leadership.This one focuses on clarifying trustees’ and CEOs’ expectations of each other. It includes a simple exercise for helping trustees and CEOs refine the way they work together.

Health care governance has entered a new era of heightened accountability, scrutiny and reform. This era imposes significant new burdens and challenges on boards and has raised the bar on what is required and expected of them. As a result, many boards are shifting their focus away from strategic leadership toward becoming compliant custodians.