Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1372822
39 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP 39 CEO / STRATEGY Top 5 concerns for healthcare boards By Hannah Mitchell and Kelly Gooch H ealthcare boards during the COVID-19 pandemic have been tasked with providing support and guidance to organizations that are facing financial and workforce challenges. In 2021, the board's role will continue to expand in ensuring organization- al success through attraction and retention of the workforce, and boards will be involved in the reassessment of business and talent management strategies at hospitals and health systems, according to compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer. e firm said in a March article that these five areas will be a focus for healthcare boards in 2021: 1. Engagement, retention and mental health of healthcare workers. Healthcare boards should be prepared to invest significant amounts of time and money in workforce mental health issues. Boards should be clearly stating their expectations to senior leadership and moni- toring organizational health measures like turnover, open positions, understaffing, unionization efforts and more. Among these mea- sures, employees should receive special attention and recognition for their hard work. 2. Business strategy, alignment of compensation, and financial re- covery and transformation. Most healthcare organizations have a compensation incentive ap- proach that aligns with annual and long-term business goals. It is important to revisit incentive plans periodically to make sure they still align with the organization's business strategy. Incentive plans should reflect the special circumstances from the pandemic and also drive business priorities. 3. Goal-setting for payers. Most health insurers saw a relatively strong financial performance in 2020. Since the pandemic creates uncertainty in making forecasts, insurers may set wider performance ranges in incentive plans since they cannot be as precise as they'd like to be. In addition, some insur- ers are using non-financial metrics like quality of care and customer satisfaction in their incentive plans as well. 4. e need to more actively manage risk. Healthcare organizations historically do not take on enterprise or reputational risks, and CEOs are known to be given a fairly short leash. Healthcare boards should foster an atmosphere of trust with an executive team, so CEOs feel comfortable communicating strate- gy, challenges and anticipated risks. Health system executives should adopt leveraged compensation arrangements to encourage a strate- gic approach. 5. A focus on the post-pandemic renewal of the strategic board. e pandemic has highlighted each board's strengths and weakness- es. In annual assessments, the board said they have seen the differ- ence between strategic engagement and rubber stamps. Improved discussion can allow for more crisis engagement. n Top 20 rural & community hospitals in the US By Alia Paavola T he National Rural Health Association on March 23 released its annual list of the top 20 rural and community hospitals in the U.S. The list is based on an evaluation by the Chartis Center for Rural Health using the Hospital Strength Index. The factors considered in the ranking are inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, pa- tient perspective, cost, charge and financial efficiency. The top 20 rural and community hospitals in the U.S., listed in alphabetical order: • Brookings (S.D.) Health System • Cedar City (Utah) Hospital • Columbus (Neb.) Community Hospital • Columbus (Texas) Community Hospital • Community Hospitals and Wellness Cen- ters (Bryan, Ohio) • Garrett Regional Medical Center (Oakland, Md.) • Guadalupe County Hospital (Santa Rosa, N.M.) • Hill Country Memorial Hospital (Fredericksburg, Texas) • Lakes Regional Healthcare (Spirit Lake, Iowa) • Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center (Jasper, Ind.) • Monroe (Wis.) Clinic • Munson Healthcare Cadillac (Mich.) Hospital • Pratt (Kan.) Regional Medical Center • Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital (Onancock, Va.) • Schneck Medical Center (Seymour, Ind.) • Sevier Valley Hospital (Richfield, Utah) • SSM Health St. Clare Hospital–Baraboo (Wis.) • St. John's Health (Jackson, Wyo.) • UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) • Vail (Colo.) Health n