• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Improving medical staff and hospital board relations

Medical Staff Leader Connection, May 30, 2006

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Medical Staff Leader Connection!

In hospitals all across the country, the board of trustees is fiscally responsible for the financial wellbeing of the organization. It is also ultimately responsible for the credentialing and privileging of all practitioners in the organization and for monitoring the quality of care these practitioners provide. However, because the board lacks the expertise to credential and privilege and monitor the quality of care, these tasks are often delegated to the organized medical staff. Unfortunately, some medical staffs and boards do not have a good working relationship.

Some medical staffs view certain board decisions as "physician unfriendly." In years past, the goals of physicians and hospitals were more aligned. Today, we are in an era of both cooperation and competition leading to so-called "coopetition." To survive, the medical staff and the board must break down any barriers between them and develop a culture of good relations.

Changing your hospital's culture doesn't occur overnight. It takes constant effort and begins with small steps, including the following:

• Cross-pollinate your meetings. Invite different medical executive committee (MEC) members to board meetings on a rotating monthly basis and place physicians on certain board committees. Reciprocate in like fashion by inviting a different board member to MEC meetings monthly and placing board members on the credentials and quality committees.
• Have a yearly half- to full-day MEC-board strategic planning session to exchange ideas and set priorities and goals for the year.
• Try to create as many opportunities for informal gatherings as possible. Whether it is quarterly events at someone's home or gatherings at public places, these casual events allow both the board and medical staff to see each other in a different light. Getting to know each other personally and socially goes a long way when you have to work together on difficult issues later.
• Consider attending joint educational sessions together. Several organizations--such as the Governance Institute, Estes Park, or the Greeley Company--have excellent meetings that appeal to the board, MEC, and administration. Sending a group of one or more physicians, board members, and administration together to these meetings tends to build camaraderie. You may also want to consider arranging for an on-site MEC-board half- to full-day seminar on topics tailored to your exact needs.

Using these strategies over several years on an on-going basis will not only create goodwill, but will also create mutual respect, understanding, and an ability to work together into the future.

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Medical Staff Leader Connection!

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive