Board on the floor in pursuit of quality

Hospital boards have always been concerned with quality and safety—at least in theory. However, in practice, board members historically have spent most of their time overseeing their organization’s strategic and financial goals.

That governance model is beginning to vanish. Today’s hospital boards may not need to know how to reduce bloodstream infections or ventilator-acquired pneumonia, but they certainly need to pay close attention to their hospital’s quality performance, says Lee A. Carter, chair of the board at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.