Center for Healthcare Governance - Monographs 2008

2008- Best Practices for Developing Effective and Enduring Board/CEO Relationships

Overview:
Research on health care chief executive longevity has found that the median CEO tenure for all non-specialty acute care hospitals across the U.S. has fallen to only 3.6 years. The profoundly negative consequences of hospital CEO turnover have been amply documented. CEO departures adversely impact hospitals' ability to pursue their missions, threaten physician-hospital relationships, lead to subsequent losses of other senior team members, and extract more from the bottom line. Therefore, hospitals need to actively pursue all available strategies to attract and retain the right CEOs and to ensure strong board/CEO relationships.

This publication reflects the findings of a research study that identified specific best practice strategies used to facilitate the success and retention of many of this country's highest performing and longest-tenured health care organization CEOs. Interviews were conducted with CEOs and board chairs of successful hospitals across the country to cross-validate best practices and to identify critical blind spots held by these two groups that may affect their working relationships. A new model, the “Six Building Blocks for Lasting Leadership”, emerged from the data and highlights overarching strategies that have proved most successful in developing strong relationships between the CEOs and board chairs interviewed.

The study findings and discussion reported here can be used by boards and chief executives in a variety of ways. They will have particular value in selecting new chief executives and senior leaders, but also can be used as a framework for discussion between existing CEOs and new or upcoming board and committee chairs to establish the foundation for strong, productive relationships. Study findings can also be used as part of leadership evaluation processes to both assess current performance and to establish plans for further development and improvement.

While this research focused on relationships between CEOs and boards of highly successful organizations, a primary purpose of the study was to provide information and perspectives that can help all hospital and health system CEOs and board members develop more effective and enduring relationships.

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