Happy New Year! THT has prepared an outstanding offering of education and resources for the coming year, along with the ability to mobilize trustees! 2009 is poised to be a great year. I hope to see you next week at the THT Health Care Policy Workshop in Austin, Jan. 21-22. It takes place at the Texas Hospital Association Leadership Conference, and we are excited about the synergy of the two events! It is not too late to register.
Coming this Spring…Save the Date!
New trustees often come to a hospital board with little experience in health care and no prior experience on a board. That lack of experience costs time and creates uncertainty during the lengthy education process. The 2009 Spring Workshop can help new trustees quickly become contributing board members. THT is presenting this half-day program by Fletcher Brown on April 15 at the Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals Annual Meeting in Dallas. The program provides an overview of health care basics and an examination of the trustee role. Significant time is spent on the hospital trustee as a policymaker and not as a manager. If you're a new trustee who has recently joined the board, this program will provide an excellent orientation.
In addition to the workshop, trustees may attend the afternoon sessions of the TORCH conference on April 15. Registration information will be coming soon!
Also stay tuned for the:
Spring Teleconference Series
- March 11 - Roles and Responsibilities as a Trustee
- April 8 - Quality: The Board Connection
- May 13 - Trustee/Physician Relations
New! THT Terms and Abbreviations and Guidebook
The newly designed and updated Texas Healthcare Trustees Terms and Abbreviations book is now available. This sixth edition has an additional 300 terms and abbreviations necessary in the everyday health care industry. To purchase your new Terms and Abbreviations, visit www.tht.org/publications.
The Texas Healthcare Trustees Guidebook for Effective Hospital and Health System Governance will be updated and redesigned in 2009. Expect to see the new Guidebook in the fall of 2009.
New! White Paper on Hospital-Physician Alignment
Hospital-physician alignment is once again emerging as a strategic priority for hospital and health system leaders and as an important topic for board and physician education in 2009.
An article posted on the THT Web site summarizes a new white paper published by The Governance Institute entitled: “Aligning Hospitals and Physicians: Formulating Strategy in a Changing Environment.” Authors of the paper include Barry Bader of Bader & Associates, and Ed Kazemek and Pam Knecht, of ACCORD LIMITED. It includes a chapter written by William Jessee, M.D., FACMPE, president and CEO of the Medical Group Management Association; Dan Grauman and John Harris from DGA Partners; and Donald W. Seymour, president, Don Seymour & Associates.
The white paper examines the driving forces behind hospital-physician alignment, and it provides new thinking about developing alignment strategies that will work. It includes specific examples of how leading-edge health systems are partnering with physicians along a continuum from loosely aligned relationships to tighter arrangements such as hospital employment and multi-specialty groups. The paper explores in detail the critical roles that trust, governance, and physician leadership play in all successful hospital-physician integration methods.
For the full white paper, contact The Governance Institute, 877/712-8778.
Texas Legislature Convenes; New Speaker Elected
The 81st Session of the Texas Legislature, which convened Jan. 13, is off and running. With the election of a new Speaker of the House of Representatives – Rep. Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) – there will be certain changes in committee leadership and staff. Once the real action begins, lawmakers have just 140 days to pass legislation addressing a number of critical issues and approve a balanced budget for the 2010-2011 biennium. The Texas Hospital Association already has begun working with legislators to take action on several key health care issues, some of which require little or no state funding:
- Making health insurance more affordable and accessible, especially for small businesses, and providing tax and other incentives to encourage employers to provide coverage;
- Seeking additional funding for nursing education to address the critical shortage of nurses;
- Supporting funding to collect data on health care-acquired infections and specific medical errors;
- Preserving the caps on non-economic damages included in 2003's medical liability reform package;
- Seeking increased oversight of the business practices of health plans and their contractors and greater transparency for consumers;
- Maximizing federal funding of Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, and basing the state's budget for the programs on realistic projections; and
- Ensuring that all of the monies collected in the Designated Trauma and EMS Account are appropriated to help offset the increasing amount of uncompensated trauma care.
Watch THA's Web site, for updates on these and other issues throughout the legislative session. A new Legislative Action Center on the site will make it easier than ever for you to learn about the issues, contact your legislators and get involved.
The Next Generation of Trustees
Eric Floyd, M.D. President, Parker County Hospital District Board of Directors; Emergency Medicine Physician for Texas Health Harris Methodist System.
Name of Hospital/Health System:
The PCHD does not operate a hospital after the 2006 lease of Weatherford Regional Medical Center (formerly Campbell Health System) to Community Health Systems. I was a board member when the board decided to lease the hospital in 2006. We currently operate the county EMS ambulance service, the county clinic, and fund indigent healthcare in Parker County.
How long have you been on your hospital/health system board?
I was elected as an at-large board member in May 2006.
Why did you choose to become a board member of a health care organization?
I have always been interested in improving community health care and improving access to health care for Parker County. I feel my insight as a physician can help guide the PCHD. One of our goals was to update the local hospital, and, through the lease with CHS, the new construction is underway. We have a new 16-exam room clinic that will be operational in February 2009. We added a fifth ambulance to the county in 2007. At the same time, we have lowered PCHD property taxes by 33 percent since 2003.
What have you found most rewarding from your board service?
I have dedicated my life to helping others, and serving on the PCHD has given me another opportunity. I feel that I have made a direct and positive impact on my community.
What other community organizations are you involved in?
I serve as the DSHS Local Health Authority for Parker County and team physician for Weatherford High School and Trinity Christian Academy. I was Chief of the Medical Staff at WRMC in 2007.
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