Accountability: The Key in the Healthcare Environment

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Accountability is key in the healthcare environment in that members of a healthcare organization must be responsible for their actions and held accountable by the organization or the consumer. Many significant changes have occurred in healthcare and one of the most noted was the beginning of professional integration between businesses, hospitals and physicians. Solid partnerships have emerged and over time individuals within these successful healthcare organizations have developed mutual understanding and respect for the others profession (Fraschetti & Sugarman, 2009). Leaders and managers in healthcare have used this knowledge to build high-performance teams through various competencies particularly with the skills found in interpersonal competency. Through positive communication, training, mentorship, collaboration and staff empowerment transitional managers and leaders exhibit interpersonal competency skills, which are very effective in the healthcare environment (Guo & Anderson, 2005). Through management’s team building efforts we see high-performance healthcare teams emerge with trust, shared goals and a strong organizational culture that understand the mission and the goals they need to accomplish. Individuals, teams, managers and leaders in a successful organization know and understand their responsibilities and the standard that is expected. Scott (2001) outlines a three-part accountability process that defines what is expected, assists individuals in understanding expectations, and establishes standards and guarantees that are consistent and allow for accountability.

Measures and Implementation in the Accountability Process

In the United States Navy we are taught the Navy definition of accountability and then ...

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Guo, K. L. & Anderson, D. (2005). The new health care paradigm: Roles and competencies of leaders in the service line management approach. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 18(6/7), XII,XIII,XIV,XV,XVI,XVII,XVIII,XIX,XX. Retrieved January 11, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 948775781).

Miller, N. (2000). Seeking accountability. Nursing Economics, 18(2), 92. Retrieved March 6, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 52765815).

Scott, G. (2001). Accountability for service excellence. Journal of Healthcare Management, 46(3), 152-5. Retrieved March 6, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 73034086).

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