Governance and Organizational Structure

Study Question

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:40:33 GMT

Which of the following is not Board of Directors Obligations :

A- The Duty of Care

B-The Duty of Loyalty

C-Confidentiality

D-Election of medical Staff representivies.

D - is correct

From Power point persentation.

Board Composition and Physician Involvement

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:31:24 GMT

After reviewing information from the Online Tutorial regarding medical staff elected membership and physicians who may serve as board members, I was wondering if there are any conflict of interest concerns if you have too many board members who are also physicians. Do any of your organizations have limits on the number of physicians who can serve on the board? Is there a set number of medical staff spots on the Board Roster? Have your organizations had any conflict of interest concerns with strong physician board member representation?

The Board Chair's Role

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:30:05 GMT

According to the book Practical Governance from the chapter titled “The Board Chair’s Role, in Governance, there are five universal truths in which board chairs must be able to do. Which of the following is NOT one of the five universal truths?

a. Lead the board

b. Cultivate an effective working relationship with the CEO

c. Mentor others on the board

d. Work hard toward more equitable reimbursement for services

e. Be decisive and move the board to action

f. Walk the straight and narrow

Answer: d. Work hard toward more equitable reimbursement for services

The Board Chair's Role

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:27:26 GMT

Which of the following terms is defined as a "statutory form of business organization that provides limited liability to some persons who invest in the organization"?

Sole Proprietorship
General Partnership
Personal Liability
Limited Partnership
Joint Venture

Answer: d. Limited Partnership

Importance of Board Diversity

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:57:55 GMT

My question relates to the responsibility of an organization to appoint board members that truly represent the community they serve. I have researched boards of various organizations and often times find them to appear very homogenous- yet the community they serve is representative of a myriad of cultures, races, and classes of people. What steps should an organization take to ensure the right mix of people are at the table?

Board Member Roles & Responsibilities - Query Re: Bargain Sale?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:38:16 GMT

Hi everyone,

So I'm getting caught up on the self-study materials and came across a question from the Board & Governance presentation. The presenter stated that Board Members shouldn't be in a position to benefit from a bargain sale (sounds reasonable enough), but what I haven't been able to determine is what constitutes a bargain sale and under what circumstances would a HCO undertake one? I can speculate on options, but I'm hoping someone else would be able to clarify. Thanks in advance!

4 Qs and Responses

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:46:29 GMT

I had 4 questions that I chose to answer. The questions are:

What are the critical skills a CEO brings?
What are the professional obligations of the CEO?
How does the board know that those skills are present and those obligations fulfilled?
What makes the relationship effective, and what erodes the relationship?

The responses are:

1. The CEO and the senior management team are often the only people in the community who are professionally trained in healthcare delivery. The training covers technical questions of need, demand, finance, quality, efficiency, law, and government regulation that are not included in the training of doctors, lawyers, or businesspersons. Other skills that are needed are leadership, strong communication skills, familiarity with the community, a record of success in the healthcare industry and with business decisions.

To the HCO, the CEO is accountable for the clinical care quality standards, the financial health of the organization, and effective management. Additionally, the CEO has several obligations such as supporting external and board relationships, the internal organization, and the medical/professional staff. The CEO must understand the components of an organization’s bylaws

The board established a process for hiring a CEO and within that process identified specific criteria. The criteria should cluster around clear elements. For example, there should be a description of duties and responsibilities. The job description should be translated into selection criteria identifying the skills and attributes of the individual. The priority or importance of these criteria and the ways in which these skills will be measured in specific applicants should be specified.

Four elements are most likely to impact the relationship. These are:

Develop a mutual understanding of the employment contract
Agree on short-term (usually one year) goals
Establish the base compensation
Establish incentives for goal achievement

Effective relationships between the board and the CEO are forged initially on these four elements. Erosion of the relationship is likely due to:

Inconsistent communication
Separate agendas
Dissimilar visions