Importance of Accountability in Health Care Sector

Importance of Accountability in Health Care Sector
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Importance of Accountability in Health Care Sector
Accountability is crucial in health care to improve efficiency and attain success in the healthcare industry. Accountability involves processes in which parties justify and be accountable for their actions. It also safeguards effective performance management and ensures constant improvement by holding team members responsible daily (Fisher et al., 2021). Accountability is essential in healthcare because individuals are accountable for their daily duties, patient care, and performance. This study discusses the importance of accountability in health care, ways to measure a personnel’s accountability, and the application of accountability to ethical considerations in management and leadership. It will also evaluate how the checks-and-balances process looks in a thriving institution, how organizational culture is impacted by accountability, and strategies to maintain positive working culture and avoid cultural blame.    
Importance of Accountability
      Accountability is essential in a healthcare environment since it ensures quality patient care and effective resource management while minimizing patient costs and improving general performance and learning. According to Fisher et al. (2021), personnel and institutions that believe in accountability have the will to learn and apply performance measurement strategies and evidence-based practices to help improve learning, increase knowledge, and effect change. As a result, there will be a decrease in variability in health care due to a culture that stresses accountability. Lack of accountability by health care personnel puts them at risk with other stakeholders such as visitors, patients, and team members. These risks comprise emotional, physical, and financial risks, which can cause detrimental damage to a healthcare organization. Besides, accountability offers an opportunity to manage, fix, and avoid any potential errors in healthcare.           
Measuring Employee Accountability
      Healthcare accountability measures evaluate four criteria that positively impact patient outcomes when improved. These criteria include proximity, research, adverse effects, and accuracy. When determining the best strategies to measure employee accountability, it is crucial to identify what needs to be evaluated. For instance, employee attendance, performance, or teamwork are common aspects evaluated regarding employee accountability (Fisher et al., 2021). A specific goal or expectation should be communicated to employees once the aspects to be measured are determined. The goals are usually termed performance goals, and they should be similar across all personnel to ensure fairness. It is crucial to set a plan of action for employees who need to meet the expectations or goals. After defining the goals, a system of evaluation should be established. The system can use colleague feedback that rates an employee’s performance on a certain scale or rely on reporting that reflects the employee's work capacity. Where possible, managing productivity reports alongside an organization’s scheme that tracks the personnel’s activity can be very helpful and effective for measuring or evaluating performance. Conducting employee evaluation is critical when measuring accountability since it indicates an employee an overview of their performance or where they stand. It also provides opportunities to educate the personnel on areas that require improvement.    
Ethical Considerations in Management and Leadership with Accountability
Ethical leaders are role models, and they emphasize the importance of ethical standards when holding team members accountable to those standards and establishing work environments for their support staff. Ethical leadership and management have proven to yield positive outcomes and minimize the risk of numerous negative outcomes (Johnson, 2020). Leaders must set cle...