2007 Blue Ribbon Panel Report

Building an Exceptional Board: Effective Practices for Health Care Governance

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In 2007, the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET), with funding from Russell Reynolds Associates and the Center for Healthcare Governance, convened a Blue Ribbon Panel to examine critical issues facing health care boards and practices that lead to exceptional governance. The BRP report includes the panel’s recommendations in specific areas, as well as sample tools and resources to implement them. It is intended to foster broader dialogue and sharing, among healthcare organizations and their boards, of perspectives and resources to further strengthen and improve health care governance.

Panel members included chief executives and board members of hospitals and health care systems, governance researchers and consultants and others with expertise in leadership and governance. They identified and focused their deliberations on five areas they believed were critical to effective governance:

  • Being an Accountable Board:  Earning and Maintaining the Public’s Trust;
  • Building and Sustaining a Proactive and Interactive Board Culture;
  • Laying a Foundation for Effective Decision-Making: Board Meetings and Information for Governing;
  • Focusing the Board on Key Governance Priorities; and
  • Clarifying Authority and Responsibility: The Buck Stops Where?

The Center is proud to have participated in and to have helped fund the panel’s efforts. We know you will find the report a valuable resource in your board’s journey toward exceptional governance.

Because the panel’s intention was to make the report's information broadly available, the Center has posted the BRP report and tools free of charge.

All of the BRP downloads are PDFs. Please download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader if necessary.

 Blue Ribbon Panel Report

 Blue Ribbon Panel Report Extracted Introduction and List of Tools


Help Expand Governance Resources!
In an effort to expand upon the panel’s governance improvement resources, we are asking organizations to share their governance tools and resources that they have found effective. Examples might include performance dashboards, orientation and board member recruiting approaches or resources, sample board policies and procedures, board member expectations, board member or leader job descriptions, board meeting evaluation tools or any other resources your board has found to be helpful.

Click here  to view a few examples of these contributions including a Blue Ribbon Panel Recommendations Discussion Matrix.

* All resources will be posted without restriction in our contribution and resource areas of the Web site. Please email us at info@americangovernance.com with your submissions.


Blue Ribbon Panel Presentation
For your next governance event, consider inviting John R. Combes, M.D. to join you to share with you the results of the report, Building and Exceptional Board: Effective Practices for Health Care Governance.

 Schedule a Blue Ribbon Panel Presentation