Accountability Paper

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HCS475: Leadership and Performance Development

November 19, 2010

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Accountability is the act of taking responsibility for ones actions; many would say that they are accountable but does it hold true when one is face with the moral responsibility of taking responsibility for one’s own actions?

In the health care field it, is very important for all health care providers and health care staff to have a moral obligation and duty to be accountable for his/her everyday actions when dealing with the health and welfare of the lives of others.

Why is accountability important in the health care industry?

Answers to questions about how to define, monitor, and assure health care quality have proven elusive. For more than a decade, various sectors of the industry have pursued an approach based on the concept of accountability the idea that health plans, insurers, hospitals, physicians, and other providers should take responsibility for their activities by demonstrating the quality and value of their services. Central to this strategy is the production, collection, and reporting of data designed to measure different aspects of quality and performance (National Health Policy Forum, 1998).

How is an employee’s accountability measured in the health care industry? An employee’s accountability is measured by several factors, including professional competency, legal, ethical and moral conduct, and promotions. Other parties that can be held accountable are entities such as federal and state regulators, insurance companies, and employers. Other ways to measure employee’s accountability is through process and mechanism tools to establish the health care providers by creating a specific plan to establish an outcome. Like quality management the questions is “Who, What, and How should a health care provider be held