How to Effectively Manage a Board of Medical Directors

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Board members are essential in determining the future direction of an organization, encouraging accountability and controlling it. It can be difficult to manage a large group at all stages of their careers particularly in a physical space such as the board meeting.

One of the major challenges for boards is how to manage their business without influencing or micromanaging. To aid, it’s essential that board members know the distinction between high-level policy decisions and lower-level management policies. It is also important that the board has a good relationship with management, and has clearly defined how it will share their decisions.

To make this happen an effective practice is to schedule regular phone updates with board members for 7-10 days prior to the next board meeting. This allows the board members to preview any issues that are likely to be discussed and ensures that any negative news isn’t delivered for the first time at the time of the meeting.

A final key is to work on establishing policies that clarify responsibilities between the board, management and medical staff. Effectively executed policies reduce the amount of „busy work“ that needs to be completed at every board meeting, which helps to free up time for more strategic activities.

It is vital that the board has members with a broad range of knowledge in all areas of the business. This includes sales, finance marketing, operations and finance. It will also help when certain members have prior experience in other areas than healthcare. This allows the board to gain knowledge from different sources and make the most effective decisions for the company.