Time for a New Model of Governance | AHA Trustee Services

Transforming GovernanceThe traditional governance model is showing symptoms of failureViewpointBy Jamie OrlikoffThe quality of governance that was sufficient to get health care organizations where they are today will be insufficient to get them where they will need to be tomorrow. Certain reasons for this are well known: a rapidly changing and evermore challenging health care environment; the growing burden of regulatory requirements placed on health care boards; and the growing complexity of governance structure and function itself, especially in increasingly large health care systems. Other, less obvious systemic reasons are likely even more impactful on governance.These issues, both obvious and obscure, drive the increasingly common paradoxical lament from health care board members who say: “Governance is taking too much of my time, and our board still doesn’t spend enough time on key strategic and generative issues.” These issues are behind the reports of health care executives and...