What your board needs to know
What are the boards of healthcare organizations hearing about their role? No matter which conferences you attend or healthcare news you read, there are two major themes:
1. The board is accountable for quality of care, not just finance
2. The board needs to be more engaged in quality initiatives
Board members are not expected to become quality experts and take over the management of quality any more than they would take over the financial management of the organization. The board still needs to delegate these responsibilities as it has in the past. What is new is that the board is being asked to better understand what it is delegating and to actively hold accountable the leaders responsible for the organization’s quality performance, just as it has a reasonable understanding of healthcare finance and holds the CEO and chief financial officer accountable for financial performance. Delegation without understanding can lead to lack of accountability and delegation without accountability
is abdication of responsibility.