News

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/bl.30114
• Date: 01 September 2018
• Published date: 01 September 2018

How Health Care Boards

Can Lead in Times of

Disruption and Uncertainty

By Kent Bottles, M.D., and Tara Satlow, Ph.D.

Kent Bottles and Tara Satlow work with an array of private-sector and nonprot

clients at The Leadership Development Group, which helps boards of health care

organizations position themselves for success through board retreats, board

assessment and selection, board succession planning, board team effectiveness,

and more. Here, Bottles and Satlow offer insight into what health care boards can

do to weather the chaos and uncertainty currently roiling the American health care

sector.

“Uncertainty is the only

certainty there is, and

knowing how to live with

insecurity is the only security.”

—John Allen Paulos

In our work with health care boards

and C-suite leaders, a consistent

message is being articulated at strat-

egy planning sessions. Health care

leaders today are confused and frus-

trated by what they perceive to be a

chaotic, uncertain, and unpredictable

environment that makes planning

nearly impossible.

One main source of the uncertainty

is the future of the Affordable Care

Act (ACA), which continues to be the

law of the land while simultaneously

being destabilized by the new admin-

istration. Although the Republicans

were not able to repeal and replace

the ACA, they are creating a parallel

health insurance system featuring work

requirements for Medicaid recipients,

short-term health plans not subject to

ACA rules, and association plans sold

across state lines. These initiatives,

coupled with the repeal of the individ-

ual mandate in the tax-cut legislation

and the cancellation of ACA cost-

reduction payments to insurance com-

panies, leave everyone in the health

care industry confused about what will

happen in the future.

New business models for provid-

ing health care are also beginning to

emerge. Venture capital organizations

are adding to the mix by investing bil-

lions of dollars into efforts to capitalize

on the flaws of the health care indus-

try. They view the high cost, variability

NUMBER 159, SEPT.–OCT. 2018

www.boardleadershipnewsletter.com

BOARD LEADERSHIP

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO GOVERNANCE

View this newsletter online at wileyonlinelibrary.com

Board Leadership • DOI: 10.1002/bl • Sept.–Oct. 2018

(continued on page 2)

NEWS

Survey data give insight into

nonprofit boards

In addition to data on the finan-

cial health of charities, accounting

firm BDO’s annual Nonprofit Stan-

dards benchmark report also tracks

data on nonprofit boards. This year’s

report offers the following insights:

•Forty-four percent of

organizations report that

attracting quality leadership

and board members is a high-

or moderate-level challenge.

•Sixty-nine percent of nonprofit

boards have term limits for

their board members.

•Of those with term limits, about

47 percent use a three-year

term as their limit, while 38

percent of organizations have a

term limit of five years or more.

•Of those with term limits, about

three-quarters allow board

members to serve two or three

years maximum.

•Nearly half of nonprofits have

more than 20 board members.

•A majority of organizations

have nominating, investment,

executive, and audit and

finance board committees.

Many organizations (43

percent) have committees

in other categories, such as

human resources, marketing,

education, program-related

investments development,

public relations, real estate,

community and donor relations,

quality and outcomes, grants,

(continued on page 5)

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