Research

Introduction

The knowledge emerging from our research initiatives promotes evidence-based approaches to leadership development and organizational excellence in healthcare. Our work provides the healthcare industry with innovative ways to think about improving leadership, enhancing organizational performance, understanding international market trends, and more.

 

Every NCHL premier program conducts regular benchmarking activities that provide insight into industry trends and enable participants to benchmark themselves against peer institutions. As a result of our research and benchmarking work, a new generation of healthcare leaders is equipped with the knowledge and management tools, insights, and expertise to achieve new standards of excellence.

National Healthcare Leadership Survey

Please complete this interest form if your organization is interested in participating in 2024. 

Designed to point all organizations toward practices that are firmly grounded in sound scientific principles and the best available evidence for effectiveness, and to recognize high-performing organizations. 

 

The goal of the NCHL’s National Healthcare Leadership Survey is to enable hospitals and healthcare systems to compare their leadership development efforts with evidence‐based best practices, benchmark their leadership practices in twelve different leadership dimensions, and monitor improvements over time. The survey also enables NCHL to evaluate the rate of adoption of evidence-based leadership best practices in the field and to study the relationship of adoption of specific leadership practices to organizational performance. The survey is revised every two years to continuously reflect the most current state of the science in leadership development best practices.

The results of this survey culminate in the Best Organizations for Leadership Development (BOLD) award.  

2022 Survey Recap

The 2020 National Healthcare Leadership survey contained questions within 12 dimensions.

Every organization which completes the survey receives a personalized scorecard.

The NCHL Leadership Development Scorecard provides feedback on your organization’s leadership development practices compared to participating health systems from across the country. The Scorecard provides feedback on 12 interdependent dimensions that have demonstrated an impact on the effectiveness of leadership development systems. The maximum score, overall and in each dimension, is 100. Weightings are applied to help balance expected differences in the unique contribution of specific dimensions to overall effectiveness.

2022 BOLD AWARDEES

  • Children’s Health System of Texas
  • Intermountain Healthcare
  • The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
  • UT Southwestern Medical Center
  • UCHealth
  • University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) 
  • University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

History of the National Healthcare Leadership Survey and BOLD

NCHL conducted its Leadership Survey in 2007, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2020, and 2022.


In 2014, we used the results from a total of 103 hospitals and health systems to recognize 19 Best Organizations in Leadership Development (BOLD). With support from Cielo Healthcare in 2016, a new group of hospitals and health systems was recognized at the 2016 BOLD organizations. In 2020 and 2022, the process was repeated – 10 BOLD organizations were recognized in 2020 and seven were recognized in 2022.


For the past eight years, prestigious healthcare organizations, like yours, from across the country have participated in the survey and the top achievers have been acknowledged with a BOLD award for their dedication and work.

Survey Frequently Asked Questions

The survey is designed to help your health system strengthen its capacity to develop  leaders so they are best prepared to help fulfill your organization’s mission. By completing the survey, your organization is able to compare your approach to leadership development to evidence-based practice as well as other health systems using the customized scorecard generated from survey responses.

Recent peer-reviewed research using the scorecard has validated the impact of these practices on numerous organizational outcomes, including significant associations with hospital operating margins as well as patient experience (HCAHPS) scores.

The next survey will launch in summer 2024. If your organization is interested in participating, please complete this interest form. Prior to the formal launch of the survey, your organization will receive additional information about participating.

The Best Organizations for Leadership Development (BOLD) award is the culmination of NCHL’s National Healthcare Leadership Survey, which is designed to point all organizations toward practices that are firmly grounded in sound scientific principles and best available evidence for effectiveness and to recognize high-performing organizations. 

NCHL Health Leadership Competency Model 3.0™

The NCHL Health Leadership Competency Model™ was developed to provide the field with a comprehensive, validated competency model that will be suitable as the foundation for a breadth of leadership assessment and development applications. To ensure relevance to leaders from across disciplines, the Model was developed and validated utilizing interdisciplinary subject matter experts and was refined in collaboration with industrial and educational psychologists.

 

The latest version of the NCHL Health Leadership Competency Model™ is free to download from the NCHL Online Store.

National Council on Administrative Fellowships (NCAF)

NCAF Annual Benchmarking Surveys

Each year, the National Council on Administrative Fellowships (NCAF) conducts four benchmarking surveys. This process surveys administrative fellowship sites, graduate health management programs, student applicants (to administrative fellowship sites), and administrative fellows.


This annual data collection process, which is overseen by the Benchmarking, Metrics, and Research Subcommittee, is designed to monitor dynamics within the field of administrative fellowships, as well as the impact of NCAF activity on outcomes. Organizations that complete one or more surveys receive corresponding benchmarking reports.

NCAF also produces a public dashboard, which summarizes key findings from the benchmarking surveys.  The dashboard for the 2021-2022 survey results can be found here.

US Cooperative for International Patient Programs (USCIPP)

USCIPP Annual Benchmarking Survey of International Programs in the US

The Annual Benchmarking Survey of International Programs in the US surveys USCIPP’s member hospitals and health systems with established international programs. Recognizing our members comprise most (but not all) US hospital and health systems with established international health programs, this benchmarking survey is best considered as a lower bound for the actual size of the US market.

 

The goal of this survey is to allow respondents to benchmark their international program operations against those at peer institutions through the data and insights provided by USCIPP. Due to the diverse group of member organizations, USCIPP’s survey is also able to distinguish pediatric versus adult services, which permits even stronger benchmarking capabilities. The annual USCIPP member survey collected information about services offered, financial metrics, operational metrics, and patient volumes. Additionally, the survey results provide insights into international program structures and geographic regions of home residence for patients traveling to the US for care. In-depth data and our full benchmarking reports are available to USCIPP’s member organizations that complete the survey.

 

USCIPP also publishes a high-level, public overview of select indicators from the results of the benchmarking survey.  The latest version is free to download from the NCHL Online Store.

USCIPP Business Intelligence and International Market Analysis

USCIPP is uniquely positioned to combine its annual benchmarking data with up-to-date economic, healthcare, and political information to provide comprehensive analyses on a range of topics. The portfolio and direction of USCIPP’s business intelligence work evolve as Premium members strategically look to the future and make critical decisions for their programs. 

 

Premium members have expressed that USCIPP’s business intelligence work products have been used to inform specific business plans and international marketing, staffing, and business development decisions. USCIPP’s major business intelligence and international market analysis initiatives and deliverables are outlined below. 

To date, USCIPP has released long-form market reports for Brazil, Canada, China, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, India, Kuwait, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. The market reports provide a comprehensive and deep analysis of each country’s economic, political, and healthcare environment through the lens of opportunities for international healthcare collaborations and outbound medical travel.

The goal of the USCIPP Monthly International Healthcare Digest is to provide a broad understanding of the current international healthcare market. Each newsletter provides recent updates on shifting international market dynamics, with a focus on new global collaborations, international travel trends, political and economic developments in key countries, international insurance news, developments in cross-border telemedicine and remote second opinions, and more. 

Updated on a monthly basis, the USCIPP International Healthcare Collaborations Dashboard is an interactive representation of all known international healthcare collaborations. It uses a project classification typology that was developed by the USCIPP team with input from our member organizations. This unique tool enables users to better understand the current players and projects in international markets of interest. (Note that the map is available to all Premium USCIPP members and USCIPP organizational affiliates as a standalone app outside of the Qlik Sense dashboard environment. Corporate members may access the map if they choose the Premium International Market Insights Dashboard as part of the “personalized experience” portion of their benefits, as the map is embedded in this dashboard.) 

This Qlik Sense dashboard contains all of the latest news compiled from our monthly digests, country-specific economic information, and healthcare data. The USCIPP International Healthcare Collaborations Dashboard is embedded within and included as part of this dashboard. (Note that all Premium USCIPP members and USCIPP organizational affiliates are entitled to a Qlik Sense license as part of their membership, but members must proactively request access. Corporate members may access the Premium International Market Insights Dashboard if they choose it as part of the “personalized experience” portion of their benefits.)  

The USCIPP International Insurance Database offers USCIPP members insights into the international private medical insurance landscape in key international markets. It identifies major insurers offering international coverage options that include the United States. The database also includes information about relevant brokers and third-party administrators. The USCIPP Benchmarking & Research Subcommittee chooses the markets included in the database. Examples include the Cayman Islands, Canada, Mainland China, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and more. Additional countries are added to the database as the USCIPP team completes new, long-form, international market reports. 

USCIPP International Patient Experience Initiative

In 2016, USCIPP members identified the need for standardized metrics to measure international patient experience and satisfaction. USCIPP partnered with Rush University’s Center for the Advancement of Healthcare Value (CAHV) to develop the survey instrument, methodology, administration platform, and database necessary to launch this initiative. Since the official launch in April 2019, participating USCIPP members have collectively surveyed thousands of international patients. All survey responses are available in a dashboard environment that enables participants to generate customized reports based on filterable criteria.

 

Through their participation, USCIPP members gain operational insights based on feedback gathered from international patients and their families’ results that may be benchmarked against trends at other participating organizations, peer discussions via monthly committee meetings, and methodologies specifically designed for international patients. 

USCIPP International Telemedicine & RSO Due Diligence Initiative

The USCIPP program and its member hospitals have developed a standardized matrix to analyze the cross-border telemedicine and RSO legal/regulatory landscape in international markets.

The final deliverables address legal issues related to the provision of telemedicine and RSOs in these markets. The resultant documents are meant to inform and empower individual institutions’ business and legal teams to develop tailored models of care with appropriate legal documentation. To date, USCIPP has commissioned reports from the international law firm Hogan Lovells for the following jurisdictions:

Phase I 

• Canada: Province of Ontario (UPDATED July 2023)

• Canada: Province of Alberta (UPDATED July 2023)

• Hong Kong (December 2019)

• Macau (December 2019)

• Mexico (UPDATED April 2022)

• People’s Republic of China (Mainland China) (UPDATED June 2023)

• Republic of China (Taiwan) (January 2020)

• Saudi Arabia (UPDATED February 2024)

• United Arab Emirates (UPDATED June 2023)

• United Kingdom (UPDATED July 2023)

Phase II

• Bahrain (UPDATED November 2023)

• Bermuda (UPDATED February 2024)

• Brazil (UPDATED May 2022)

• Canada: Province of British Columbia (July 2020)

• Canada: Province of Québec (July 2020)

• Colombia (May 2020)

• Dominican Republic (May 2020)

• Ecuador (UPDATED December 2023)

• Kuwait (UPDATED September 2021)

• Qatar (UPDATED September 2021)

Phase III

• Costa Rica (UPDATED November 2023)

• India (November 2020)

• Panama (November 2020)

• Peru (EXPECTED UPDATE March 2024)

New Markets

• Chile (EXPECTED March 2024)

Contact our Research Team Director