NHS boards. It takes two to tango

Successful chair-chief executive relationships depend on a 'no surprises' rule. The fact that a chair can terminate a chief executive's contract with little reference to anyone else is a weakness in the system. When a relationship breaks down it is usually for personal rather than formal reasons.

The amazing new powers of the CIO

CIOs, who used to focus on back-office information systems, are getting more involved in executive-level strategic planning, clinical systems implementation and new technology evangelism. With so much going on, the CIO's role is becoming increasingly difficult. Many CIOs have been able to take practical steps to meet their changing--and expanding--job requirements.

Mental health. Time for a meeting of minds

The policy agenda for mental health services requires managers to develop new skills. The government's overriding concern to restore confidence in the mental health system will demand that managers promote greater public understanding of services. Proficiency in working with other organisations will be crucial to success.

How to hire the right CIO

As the role of technology in healthcare management and delivery continues to expand, the market for qualified chief information officers grows ever more competitive. Management teams in the market for a CIO must choose quickly-but they must also choose wisely.

Young Executive of the Year. ACHE award goes to executive of trade association for first time

Fast-thinking, fast-acting fast-talking Lee Perlman is the consummate businessman. Luckily for hospitals in America's largest city, he has chosen to apply his talents serving them instead of Wall Street. Perlman, 39, executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Greater New York Hospital Association, has been chosen the 1998 Young Healthcare Executive of the Year. He's the first trade association exec to hold that honor.

CIO salaries, status increase, as does pressure to perform

CHIME's most recent survey of CIOs indicates that salaries, responsibilities and contact with CEOs have all increased in the past two years. But the price to pay for these gains can be organizational impatience with CIOs who don't deliver results fast.

Your direct reports loathe you. Does it matter?

Chalk it up to the labor shortage or to growing worker independence, but today almost everyone agrees that management effectiveness rests heavily on grass roots support. Why do subordinates despise a superior? Indecisiveness, non-support, expense account abuse, and arrogance are some of the documented reasons. Your direct reports can cause you to fail and their perfidy will never be detected. They can question your competence and decisions often-through the grapevine-bombarding top management with derogatory information it ultimately can't or won't ignore. Moreover, the movement of workers from organization to organization means that negative gossip will be repeated in dozens of grapevines. What is the worst thing disgruntled workers do to a manager's career? Not only will victims protest and flack your sins in the grapevine, they'll vote with their feet. Worker shortages mean that turnover is watched as closely as salary expenses. Explored herein are some signs that should cause a manager to examine how he or she stands with the troops.

Caught-in-the-middle management

Health care is changing rapidly and dramatically. Most everyone working in health care today is feeling caught in the middle--caught between competing trends and forces. This article offers 10 techniques for coping with being caught in the middle. It starts with the premise that all of us are in the middle and will stay in the middle throughout the rest of our productive careers, and it recommends that the first step in practicing caught-in-the-middle management is this recognition. The other nine techniques are to shorten your focus, develop the worst case scenario for your organization, develop the worst case scenario for your career, take care of yourself, build your credibility, build your political skills, build your power, make your organization succeed, and clarify your values.

Personal strategies for maximizing your value in an uncertain future

Because of the trend toward downsizing and the increase in job insecurity, managers need to consider strategies to ensure that they are not among those who will be laid off in the coming years. This article presents a set of such strategies, which mostly fall into the two categories of skill enhancement and management style adaptation.

1997 up and comers

Leadership is both singular and diverse, subtle and bold. It moves others, transcends the obvious and stretches the boundaries of achievement. And it's always passionate about what it does. Being a leader in today's complex, evolving healthcare industry is an especially challenging task. Modern Healthcare salutes this year's "Up & Comers," 13 young executives, all 40 or under, who already have made their marks and will help shape the future of healthcare.

Claim audits: a relic of the indemnity age?

Traditional claim audits offering quick fixes to specific problems or to recover overpayments will not provide benefit managers with the data and action plan they need to make informed decisions about cost-effective benefit administration. Today's benefits environment calls for a comprehensive review of claim administration, incorporating traditional audit techniques into a quality improvement audit process.

The development of an approach to evaluate NHS manager's competence in medical informatics

This paper describes the research and development of Checkpoint, a self-assessment instrument. It outlines how the instrument has helped managers in the NHS identify their strengths and weaknesses with respect to their management and use of informatics. The paper presents trends and feedback from the use of Checkpoint and the implications for future education and training of managers in the NHS.