Introduction
Indiana University Hospital is part of the Indiana University Health system which has been ranked the best in several areas of specialty care. It offers its services through several hospitals located all parts of Indiana. It has 3707 physicians working across the state of Indiana (Ernst & Young, 2012).
Board of Directors
The board of directors of the Indiana University Hospital is composed of fifteen individuals drawn from several industries. It is the responsibility of the board of directors to offer leadership on matters pertain to the operation of the system and provide core coordination of the activities of the hospital. The board is primarily responsible for ensuring that the Indiana University Health system carries out its activities in a manner which enables it achieve its mission and vision. The board is also responsible for approval of budgeting, a task which is very important because the hospital operates as a not for profit organization. It is also the responsibility of the board of directors to formulate and supervise the implementation of long term plans of the hospital, oversee medical staff appointments and develop major hospital policies (Dwise, 2011).
The president and chief executive officer of the Hospital is Daniel F. Evans, Jr. He was appointed to the position in 2002 and had previously served in the board of directors of the Indiana Methodist Hospital. He is presently a member of other boards of directors in health related organizations in Indiana. The vice president and chief operating officer is Samuel Odle. He has previously served as the chairman of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Richard Graffis is also an executive president and the chief medical officer. He was a private surgeon practitioner before joining the board and serves in other boards. Linda Everett is the third executive vice president and chief nurse executive. She joined the board in 2007 (Ernst & Young, 2012).
The appointment of directors is meant to be representative of the community at large. Several considerations are made on the appointments. Academic qualifications, relevant leadership experience, community representation and integrity are some of the aspects considered in the appointments (Dwise, 2011).
Operational Structure
The operations of the Indiana University Health are based on its history of formation. Its operations are divided into four major categories; provision of health care services, medical education and research, medical management services and personal and business occupational health care for businesses and individuals. Under these categories are many operations whose classification falls under these major categories (Ernst & Young, 2012).
The board is the principal decision making organ of the Indiana University Health Hospital. It makes annual reviews and determines the level of support to each of the departments of the hospital. In fulfilling its budgeting mandate, it relies on the budgetary estimates presented to it from the various divisions of the hospital makes the allocations as it deems proper. Each division of the hospital is managed by committees which are responsible for the budgeting in that division and whose head is responsible for communication with the board of directors. Some of these operations are the physicians operations, ambulatory care, medical risk, and foundations (Ernst & Young, 2012).
Strategic Planning Activities
Long term strategic activities are the responsibility of the board of directors. Since it is also responsible for the management of financing of the operations of the system, the board of directors also conducts the budgeting process of long term activities. However, the capacity of the board of directors in the strategic planning activities is only through the provisions of the agreements which created the Indiana University Health hospital (Ernst & Young, 2012).
References
Carter, K., Dorgan, S. and Layton, D. (2011). Why Hospital management Matters. Health International, 11, 80-90.
Dwise, A. (2011). Corporate Governance: An Informative Glimpse, International Journal of Governance. 1(2): 206-214
Ernst & Young. (2012, March 22). Consolidated Financial Statements: Indiana University Health, Inc and subsidiaries for the Year ended December 31, 2011. Retrieved 2013, March 15 from http://www.state.in.us/isdh/files/2011_Indiana_University_Health_AFS.pdf
Indiana University Health (n.d.). Board of Directors. Retrieved from http://iuhealth.org/about-iu-health/board-of-directors/
