Competency identification and modeling in healthcare leadership.

In line with the current interest in leadership development across many industries today, a number of competency-based educational programming initiatives have been launched in professional education. As well, the National Summit on the Future of Education and Practice in Health Management and Policy in 2001 called for the documentation of learning outcomes for continual educational improvement in health management and policy. The National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) subsequently launched a comprehensive, multi-stage process for identifying the competencies salient to distinguishing outstanding leadership performance in health management. This article describes the plan and the processes associated with NCHL's specification of a preliminary model of core competencies for leadership in health management, as well as the continued methods for refinement and validation of the model with both educators and practitioners in the field. The initial version of the NCHL Competency Model has facilitated field-wide dialogue regarding outcomes-based learning and assessment for both educational and professional development program planning. Subsequent development of the model will continue to stimulate open exchanges regarding pedagogical practice, as well as facilitate the design of leadership assessments for individuals, programs, organizations, and the field at large.