Practices

Communication Tool Kit

Tax-exempt healthcare organizations face intense pressure and scrutiny regarding leadership compensation. Regulators, the public and the press are pushing hospitals and health systems toward even greater transparency relating to leadership compensation, as evidenced by the changes to IRS Form 990.

Is your organization prepared for media and stakeholder scrutiny of its compensation decisions and policies?

Is your board ready to address the following types of leadership compensation questions?

"Why does a tax-exempt hospital have to pay Wall Street salaries for its executives?"

"Who authorized these salaries and how were they arrived at?"

"Don't these executive pay levels contribute to the escalating hospital charges for this organization?"

Having a board that understands the fundamentals of your organization's compensation program and an identified spokesperson that can speak about them effectively is essential in this highly scrutinized healthcare environment.

Integrated Healthcare Strategies has recognized this need and created a Board Communication Tool Kit on leadership compensation that gathers in one place all of the information the committee will need to document its policy and strategy about leadership compensation communication, for use in communications with physicians, employees and the media about leadership compensation.

leadership compensation steps

The Board Communication Tool Kit for leadership compensation is designed to help your organization:

  • Demonstrate the competency and expertise of the Compensation Committee or designated governing body
  • Equip the Board and committee spokespersons to deal effectively with the media
  • Outline the process the Compensation Committee follows to set pay levels and assure that they are reasonable
  • Justify the competitive positioning of the leadership compensation program and provide rationale
  • Provide interview strategies and coaching
  • Simplify explanations of required IRS filings regarding leadership compensation
  • Provide anticipated questions and tailored answers
  • Share data about the market for healthcare leadership talent

The following content is included in the Board Communication Tool Kit for leadership compensation:

  • Constituent Communication Strategies
    • Strategy for each constituency, strategy for transparency, strategy for how aggressive to be with reporter ("Managing the Interview")
  • Organization Scope and Community Presence
    • Key financial, community benefit and quality metrics
    • How to justify and explain executive compensation
  • Compensation Committee
    • Best practices
    • Member bios
    • Bylaws and Committee Charter
  • Compensation Philosophy
  • Executive Compensation Program Statement
    • Discusses compensation philosophy, rationale of chosen peer groups, rationale for competitive positioning of compensation levels, elements of executive compensation, processes and best practices of governing executive compensation
  • IRS Form 990
    • Explanation
    • Process for Committee review of 990
    • Comparison of organization's 990 to in-market competitors
  • Healthcare Marketplace Information
    • Components of executive pay
    • Healthcare executive pay trends
    • Healthcare versus other industries
    • Healthcare positions
  • Question and Answer
    • Tailored questions to client concerns and special situations
    • 35-40 generic questions and answers
    • Interview suggestions and tips
Board Communication Tool Kit manual

Click on the Board Communication Tool Kit manual (left) to view sample pages from various sections within the manual.