Governing Health

The constant cycle of acquisitions, affiliations and divestitures is continually reshaping the health care industry. However, the factors that prompted M&A deals in the past are not necessarily the same factors that drive today’s deals. This poses new challenges for governing boards as they work to apply the proper amount of oversight to M&A opportunities. To help us better understand the latest M&A trends in the health care industry, Michael Peregrine interviews Barry Sagraves of Juniper Advisory. Barry has more than 25 years’ experience in health care M&A transactions, working leading Catholic and nonprofit systems, as well as independent community and public hospitals.

Michael Peregrine continues the conversation with Ken Kaufman, managing director and chair of Kaufman Hall, about how the forces of “business disruption” are beginning to affect health care. As Ken noted last month, we are starting to see signs of disruption in health care, with the growth of retail clinics, telemedicine, genomics and other new models and technology. The big question remains whether health care will experience the kind of major disruption that we have seen in so many other industries and how health care boards should prepare their organizations.

Michael Peregrine and Ken Kaufman, chair of Kaufman Hall, discuss an increasingly important aspect of the board’s oversight duty: the unique concept of business disruption and the expectation that the health care board will timely identify, and react to warning signs of such disruption.

Michael Peregrine and Ken Kaufman, chair of Kaufman Hall, discuss an increasingly important aspect of the board’s oversight duty: the unique concept of business disruption and the expectation that the health care board will timely identify, and react to warning signs of such disruption.

Michael Peregrine and McDermott health care restructuring partner Bill Smith discuss a critical aspect of the board’s oversight duties: the expectation that the board be able to promptly identify and react to warning signs of organizational or financial distress.

Michael Peregrine and McDermott health care restructuring partner Bill Smith discuss a critical aspect of the board’s oversight duties: the expectation that the board be able to promptly identify and react to warning signs of organizational or financial distress.

In addition to being a CEO’s nightmare, a dysfunctional board can threaten an organization’s success and survival. Michael Peregrine and guest Dr. David Nygren discuss types of board dysfunction, including the dreaded “nice board,” as well as how to diagnose the underlying issues and manage the subsequent changes required.

A critical, but often overlooked, aspect of the board’s duty of care is its obligation to monitor prevailing economic conditions’ impact on the health care industry. In particular, monitoring jobs data can provide tremendous insight into specific areas of growth and decline within the health care sector and inform the strategy of the board and its strategic planning, finance and human resources committees.

Establishing CEO compensation is a complex, highly-regulated exercise that can send a strong message about an organization’s culture and goals. In this episode, Michael Peregrine hosts a wide-ranging discussion of this evolving boardroom concern with two of the leading voices on executive compensation trends and practices in health care, Ralph DeJong, a McDermott executive compensation and benefits partner, and Tim Cotter, Chairman and Managing Director of Sullivan, Cotter and Associates.

With health care at the top of the new administration’s to-do list, one thing is certain: change is afoot. In this episode, Michael Peregrine interviews Eric Zimmerman, a Washington-based McDermott partner, and Chip Falahee, Senior Vice President for Legal and Legislative Affairs at Bronson Healthcare Group, to discuss how boards can prepare for the changes ahead – particularly with regard to the Affordable Care Act.