Question

Physicians add a special dimension to a governing board. What are the important things to consider when adding physicians to a board? Are there any negatives? Should physicians serve on the Executive Committee?

Answer 1

Physicians and nursing professionals are the ones who know the subject matter more than anyone else. They work on the ground level and are the most appropriate people to tell, what would be the best measures to improve the patient safety and quality of healthcare. While every healthcare facility striving to up the notch by contributing to reformation of  the healthcare through continuous improvement in quality of patient care and safety, thus maximising the chances of favourable clinical outcome and more satisfied patients, physicians' presence among the policy makers is an absolute must. Their presence will make the policies more patient centric and realistic in nature and directly related to the patients' cause. They will also be able to represent the issues of staff in a better way and will help the hospital to achieve its quality goals in more effective manner.

However, having subject matter expertise alone is not sufficient for a physician to work on the board of a hospital. The person must have prior management and administrative experience in a healthcare facility to be able to see the bigger picture and do what is in the best interest of all stakeholders. The person should be capable of taking fiducairy duty, and should be free from biases to make impartial decisions.

The negative factor is the potential conflict of interests where a physician might be working with a competitor and his /her inclusion might be bane to the hospial's interests. Another issue is presence of inclination of the physician towards some stakeholders, which might prevent him /her to make unbiased decisions.

The physicians should have a say in the functioning of Executive body through active participation of one or two members, but they should also have great leadership quality and a strategic vision for being a successful member, who can combine his /her expertise with strategic vision to add value.