The information needs of health agency board members: a health information system challenge

Most hospitals and health agencies in developed countries, whether in the private or public sector, have 'advisory committees' or 'boards of management'. Members of these bodies have significant responsibilities for the management of their organisations, but usually serve on these bodies on a part-time and voluntary basis. They may or may not have specific expertise in health care or management but are often selected because they are representative of parts of the community, are members of relevant organisations (medical bodies or, perhaps, staff unions) or belong to the correct political party. In previous years the amount of information about the health care agency and health systems in general which was given to the board was usually closely controlled by the senior staff of the agency. While the information often emphasised financial statements or gross usage figures, it seldom included projections of future trends or comparisons with information for other like agencies and was frequently very out-dated by the time that it was assembled. For discussion purposes in this paper all individuals who serve on advisory or management committees as well as members of legally constituted Boards of Directors will be referred to as 'board members'. The responsibilities of these board members differ from the management responsibilities of CEOs and other senior executives, but those involved do require access to some management information if they are to adequately discharge their responsibilities. The role of such 'boards' or 'authorities' is similar to that of a board of trustees or directors in industry with many of the same responsibilities, except that healthcare agencies are 'people' agencies, not producers of 'widgets'. This paper will outline some of the information needs of board members and discuss how these needs may be addressed as part of a total management and health information system.