Okay, I am curious how much Boards are being prepared for the challenges of health reform. Besides an advocacy role trying to divert the worst from coming your way, there are a number of strategic issues that only the Board can wrestle. The question across the country these days is "How big is too big" but for healthcare, the question may be "how small is too small". For community hospitals or rural or even inner city hospitals, do you have the capacity to change. Do you have the size to restrict inpatient capacity in favor of outpatient and make the transition from current fee for service to bundled payments. How big do you need to be? How much competition will really matter in the future - can you be a one hospital town? Will the competition for beds be the issue or the competition on price and quality.
I'd say that the new guidelines in some states for formal Trustee education may be the opportunity not the threat. So the question of the day is how much should CEOs try to control or tailor their trustees education and how much should the Education become apart of the norm. Strategic systems thinking and the ability to be opportunitistic and evidence based in the near future could be a strategic advantage. We might start evaluating excellent hospitals on the quality of their boards not just their medical staffs.
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