CEO perspectives on mission, healthcare systems, and the environment.

Nowhere in the United States' economy has the role and function of management changed so dramatically as in the hospital industry. And no functionary has felt it as keenly as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the multihospital system. The enlargement of the CEO's responsibility--from governance of the hospital to the development of the multihospital system to the evolution of the healthcare corporation--has mainly taken place in the last two decades. The purpose of this study is to look at the changing mission, environmental demands, and organizational structures of healthcare corporations from the vantage point of top management. With a grant from the Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, interviews were conducted with a select group of CEOs of major hospital systems. A study overview is presented here.