ACMPE Organizational Governance 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which concept describes the division of authority between the governing board and the practice administrator in a medical group?
- Dual accountability
- Delegation of authority (Correct answer)
- Shared governance
- Administrative autonomy
Correct answer: Delegation of authority
Delegation of authority formally defines which decisions the administrator can make independently versus those requiring board approval.
Question 2: A practice's policy and procedure manual is most appropriately approved by:
- Individual department heads independently
- The governing board or designated committee (Correct answer)
- Only the practice administrator
- Frontline clinical staff by consensus
Correct answer: The governing board or designated committee
The governing board holds ultimate accountability for organizational policies, so significant policy documents require board or committee approval.
Question 3: Which governance principle requires that board members uphold their duty to remain informed and attend meetings regularly?
- Duty of loyalty
- Duty of obedience
- Duty of care (Correct answer)
- Duty of confidentiality
Correct answer: Duty of care
The duty of care requires board members to act with reasonable diligence, stay informed about organizational matters, and attend meetings to fulfill their governance role.
Question 4: When a medical practice transitions from physician ownership to health system employment, the governance structure typically changes by:
- Eliminating all physician input in decision-making
- Shifting ultimate authority to the health system's parent board (Correct answer)
- Keeping the original physician board intact with unchanged authority
- Transferring governance to the state medical board
Correct answer: Shifting ultimate authority to the health system's parent board
In health system employment models, the parent organization's board holds ultimate fiduciary and governance authority over the employed medical group.
Question 5: An effective governance dashboard for a medical practice board should primarily track:
- Individual physician productivity broken down by patient
- Key performance indicators aligned with strategic objectives (Correct answer)
- Staff attendance records and break schedules
- Daily cash register totals and petty cash balances
Correct answer: Key performance indicators aligned with strategic objectives
Governance dashboards present KPIs tied to strategic goals so the board can monitor organizational performance and hold management accountable.
Question 6: Which of the following best defines the concept of 'board self-assessment' in medical practice governance?
- Individual physicians reviewing their own clinical performance
- The board evaluating its own effectiveness, structure, and governance practices (Correct answer)
- Staff rating the board chair's communication skills anonymously
- External auditors assessing the accuracy of board meeting minutes
Correct answer: The board evaluating its own effectiveness, structure, and governance practices
Board self-assessment is a structured process where the board evaluates its own governance performance, identifies gaps, and improves its effectiveness.
Question 7: In a Partnership or LLC medical group, 'managing partner' authority is most similar to which corporate governance role?
- Chief of Staff
- Chief Executive Officer (Correct answer)
- Chief Medical Officer
- Chief Compliance Officer
Correct answer: Chief Executive Officer
The managing partner leads operational and strategic execution on behalf of the ownership group, paralleling the CEO role in a corporate governance structure.
ACMPE Organizational Governance 2
Which concept describes the division of authority between the governing board and the practice administrator in a medical group?