The Center for Healthcare Governance has looked at what it sees as the necessary new duties of hospital boards in context  of the current vast changes in healthcare. In a nutshell, the survey said that hospital chief executives did not think that their boards were moving fast enough to keep up with the new demands.

The center says that in addition to the push to emphasize healthcare quality (as measured by outcomes) and fiscal fitness, boards need to learn more about physician-staff alignment and community health (which, of course, includes much more than medicine).

The center’s  2014 National Healthcare Governance Survey was based on information from chief executive officers and board chairs.

The survey found that chairs scored their boards higher than did the CEOs did in evaluating the boards’ pace  in examining new governance models for possible adoption; having frank strategic discussions  to understand what change in their organizations meant for new strategies; and  developing  strategies for transformational change.