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Bye-bye big boards. Bogged down by too many trustees, health systems streamline to set clearer goals and speed up
Hospitals & Health Networks
|June 5, 1997
Insights
As healthcare systems expand, governance structures often streamline by reducing trustee numbers to improve efficiency. Hospital management also restructures, shifting from centralized CEOs to more regional management roles.
Area of Science:
- Health services management
- Healthcare administration
- Organizational restructuring
Background:
- Growing health systems face challenges with large governing boards and complex management structures.
- Inefficiencies in decision-making and resource allocation can arise from oversized boards and centralized leadership.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the impact of health system growth on governance and management structures.
- To identify trends in board size reduction and management role evolution within expanding healthcare organizations.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of organizational charts and governance documents from expanding health systems.
- Review of management staffing models and reporting structures.
Main Results:
- A trend towards shrinking the number of trustees and governing board members in larger health systems.
- A shift in hospital management towards fewer chief executive officers (CEOs) and an increase in regional managers.
Conclusions:
- Streamlining governance and management is a common strategy for health systems experiencing growth.
- Reducing board size and decentralizing management can mitigate red tape and budget bottlenecks.
Abstract:
As health systems grow, the number of trustees and governing boards often must shrink to cut back on red tape and budget bottlenecks. Hospital management also typically needs restructuring, with fewer CEOs and more regional managers taking care of business.