HSA 6385 Blog 4

Developing an Accountability Framework

Recently during my Healthcare Quality class we completed an assignment about accountability in healthcare and the key forces in which accountability is driven by. Accountability in healthcare is defined as “the procedure and process by which one party provides a justification and is held responsible for its actions by another party who has an interest in the action”. (Ransom, Joshi, Nash & Ransom, 2009) After learning about accountability I took the time to research further into the matter. A subject regarding accountability explained the development of and accountability framework. Simply put, accountability is maintained through two mechanisms known as accreditation standards and report cards. The first mechanism; Accreditation, are  standards that are generally maintained by The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JACHO) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) These two organizations have standardized systems for accrediting hospitals and managed care organizations (McGlynn, 1997) . The other mechanism; report cards have been developed to maintain accurate records of hospitals, health plans, and physicians. For instance, information such as hospital mortality rates and procedure specific reports are released as public knowledge which as a result holds these facilities accountable for maintaining quality care for their patients. The most common example of a report card was developed by the NCQA’s Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) (McGlynn, 1997).

The use of report cards as public knowledge is useful in developing an accountability framework because it allows the public to be aware of the type of care the facility is providing. The information provided in these reports cards requires each facility to be responsible for the information and record keeping for their facility (McGlynn, 1997). Once this information has been made public, the rise in quality will continue due to the facility being under direct comparison with similar facilities. I think the use of report cards to develop and accountability framework is a great idea. This will not only be and comprehensible tool for the public but it will also give mangers of facilities the opportunity to compare and complete external benchmarking quickly and efficiently.

Reference:

McGlynn, E. A. (1997). Six challenges in measuring the quality of health care. Health Affairs , 16(3), 7-21. Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/16/3/7.full.pdf

Ransom, E., Joshi, M., Nash, D., & Ransom, B. (2009).The healthcare quality book, vision, strategy, and tools. (2 ed.). Washington, DC: Health Administration Pr.