This morning I read a shocking headline: “A new survey shows that half of hospital boards don’t rate quality as a top priority.” The survey is printed in Health Affairs, a leading journal regarding health policy.
I find it astonishing that so few of these board members consider quality of care one of their two top priorities. Also, only a handful had any training in quality.
My experience at Aurora Health Care showed how important board-approved goals are regarding quality.
At Aurora the quality committee and the finance committee were of equal importance. Each had both short-range and long-range goals with hard measures. No feel good and apple pie goals.
Executive compensation was tied equally to significant measurable improvement in each area. The results speak for themselves as Aurora improved from slightly above average quality to a model for national leadership as measured in the CMS/Premier Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration project. Community costs also improved over time, once again demonstrating that good quality is also cost-effective care.
Too many hospital board members think profit is the reason to be in existence. They are comfortable measuring financial performance. BUT our not-for-investor-profit healthcare system was created to provide good care to the community. Yes, we must be fiscally competent, but quality, outreach, and service is where the core focus should be.
The survey suggests that governing boards may be an important target for intervention for policymakers hoping to improve care in U.S. hospitals. I agree.
Perhaps too many healthcare executives are in healthcare for the wrong reasons.
Ed Howe blogs regularly at Action for Better Healthcare.