New research is providing evidence on practices that optimize the effectiveness of hospital governing boards in overseeing and improving quality and patient safety in their organizations. This session will present extensive, first-hand experience in advising boards and the findings of a new landmark study published by The Governance Institute, the largest US health care governance education organization.

      After this presentation you will be able to:

• Describe the critical importance of the hospital board's responsibilities for improving quality and patient safety.
• Engage the board's leadership potential to approve high-level improvement goals, oversee performance, incentivize executives, and exercise accountability.
• Apply best practices for effective governance, including recruiting board members, incorporating quality and safety discussions into board agendas, optimizing board participation, and reporting performance using “dashboard” and other formats.