Many health care organization governing boards use stakeholder feedback as part of their strategic planning processes. However, fewer view stakeholder feedback as a powerful tool to help manage risk.

Don't discard your January issue of Trustee Magazine until you've read the included Trustee Workbook, in which board advisory consultant Tracy E. Houston suggests that health care boards and leaders compare stakeholder feedback with the organization's current strategies, culture and values. This is important, because comparison can help identify areas of alignment that could signal emerging priorities, or opportunities to develop new products or services or to expand into new markets. It can also reveal areas of divergence between the organization and its stakeholders that could represent risks or threats to the organization's future success.

Houston discusses how stakeholder feedback has been used successfully in other industries and provides tools and resources that can help boards understand how to better assess both the strategic and risk implications of stakeholder perspectives. She poses several questions for boards to consider as they reflect on the feedback they gather from stakeholders, such as:

• What positive and negative perceptions do our stakeholders have about the hospital?
• Which stakeholder groups can help our hospital expand its potential?
• Which stakeholder groups are likely to reduce our hospital's potential in the future?
• What stakeholder risks is our hospital managing today that it was not addressing five years ago?

You can read the complete Trustee Workbook in the January issue of Trustee magazine, which Center members receive as a benefit of membership.

Center Members: Access Archived Trustee Workbooks!

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Fall Symposium on Governing & Leading Healthcare Organizations
September 13-16, 2009
White Sulphur Springs,
West Virginia

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More than 45 Maryland community and business leaders recently took part in a new AHA program to help hospitals increase board diversity and, ultimately, reduce disparities in health outcomes. The program, spearheaded by the AHA's Center for Healthcare Governance and Institute for Diversity in Health Management, explores the principles by which boards operate, trustees' roles and responsibilities, and the challenges and opportunities facing health care organizations.

"To better address care disparities and to truly support diversity, we need diverse leaders at the hospital board table to raise the issues, guide their resolution, allocate the resources and create a more diverse sense of accountability to our communities," said Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association, which co-sponsored the session on February 2. Future sessions are planned for Denver, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York and South Florida.

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The Center for Healthcare Governance wants members to be as connected as possible to our governance consultants. Being able to ask questions online and receive responses back quickly will ensure you'll find the answers and resources to help you achieve excellence in health care governance.

Please fill out the Center's Ask the Governance Expert online form with your specific question or request, and you will be contacted within 24 hours with a reply. In addition, please feel free to use this form to submit feedback about the Center's services so that we can better serve you.

Please note that this is a member-only resource. Only submissions by Center members will be answered.

The Center for Healthcare Governance developed Speakers Express to help make the high-caliber speakers and presenters found at its national symposia and regional workshops available to organizations throughout the country. Our speakers are proven professionals who are viewed as the "go-to" leaders in their respective fields of expertise, customizing their presentations to fit the unique needs of each organization.

The Center for Healthcare Governance introduces Connie Curran, brings a unique depth of experience that ranges from the patient's bedside, to the classroom, to the executive suite, to the boardroom, and beyond. Learn more about Connie Curran below.

Connie Curran Speaker Bio Presentation Topics

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To view archived editions of the Center's bi-weekly email Center News & Updates, click here.