A system that 'walks the talk'. Using improved community health status for CEO evaluation and compensation. Interview...

Crozer-Keystone Health System, with corporate headquarters in Media, PA, is relatively new. The system was formed in 1990 to integrate four hospitals--roughly 1,160 acute care beds--five long-term care facilities, skilled nursing facilities and personal care facilities. According to President and CEO John C. McMeekin, the system comprises "very aggressive" programs in senior wellness, geriatric care, women's and children's health, behavioral medicine and psychiatric substance abuse. And it also has a large managed care organization that was undertaken as part of a joint venture with members of the hospitals' medical staff. The system is still defining itself, and perhaps that's why it has been willing to venture into an area that is virtually unique among health care organizations: using community health status indicators as part of the CEO's annual evaluation and compensation. Recently, Trustee editor Karen Gardner spoke to McMeekin and board Chairman Richard W. Billings about a major community needs assessment project that the system undertook in 1991 and how it is using the results of that study.