Providing excellent patient care requires effective leadership. That leadership comes from many sources in a health care organization, including governing leaders (governance), leaders, and others who hold positions of leadership, responsibility, and trust. Each organization must identify these individuals and involve them in ensuring that the organization is an effective, efficient resource for the community and its patients.
In particular, these leaders must identify the organization’s mission and make sure that the resources needed to fulfill this mission are available. For many organizations, this does not mean adding new resources but more efficiently using current resources, even when they are scarce. Also, leaders must work together well to coordi- nate and to integrate all the organization’s activities, including those designed to improve patient care and clinical services.