“I think that we should declare 2007 ‘The Year of Governance’ and start to put back on the table of the boards not just a request, but an absolute sense of obligation, that learning who does better and then doing at least that well is central to proper stewardship of health care. Until leaders own that problem, I don’t think spread is going to happen. The buck stops in the board room.”
--“An Interview with Donald Berwick,” Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2006;32(12):666.
The goal of the Getting Boards on Board intervention is that Boards of Trustees in all hospitals will undertake the six key governance leadership activities to improve quality and reduce harm in their hospitals. These six leadership activities are recommended in the Getting Boards on Board How-to-Guide . The 5 Million Lives Campaign recommends that, at a minimum, boards should start by spending more than 25% of their meeting time on quality and safety issues and conducting, as a full board, a conversation with at least one patient, or family member of a patient, who sustained serious harm at their institution within the last year.
The Pediatric Affinity Group welcomes suggestions from the pediatric community on how this guide might be adapted to meet the unique needs of the pediatric community particularly for pediatric units or services within larger institutions.
Please visit the IHI’s 5 Million Lives Campaign website to download the Getting Boards on Board How-to-Guide.
