Managerial Accountability

Abstract

Managerial accountability as a drive for quality in health care has been a topic of great concern in the recent times. As such, the proposed research is meant to examine whether managerial accountability contributes to quality of health care. Along with this point, the methodology which will be applied will be qualitative in nature seeking to address the case of Thailand health care system. There will be the use of books, journals and websites in order to solicit for information for the given topic. In this context, there will be an exploration of the topic pointing out to its contribution to quality performance of the health care system. Thailand health care system will be explored in the light of managerial accountability seeking to know whether it has the capability to act as a drive for quality in health care.

Introduction

Accountability is the reason for measuring and improving performance and as such, managerial accountability in health care is the driving force for quality. In the recent times, there has been a high quest for accountability or a sense of responsibility in the health care. As such, it is deemed to boost quality of the health care along with the general improvement and performance altogether. Accountability is directed towards ascertaining after the fact that an actor has acted within the boundaries which have been specified by the mandate to ensure that there is a compliance with the given obligations. In line with this point, within the health care system there is need for responsibility while carrying out the activities related to heath care service giving (Rankin, & Campbell 2006). Outstandingly, managerial accountability is on a high demand the within the developing countries. In this context, it is important to bring out the point that managerial accountability acts as a drive for quality in health care. In this sense, accountability in health care translates to nurses, doctors and other care providers to seek to take responsibility for all their undertakings.  

Managerial accountability calls for those in the health care management to assume the duty of taking responsibility for every undertaking they take hold of. In line with this point, there has been a growing need for the management to show or rather practice responsibility and accountability for all the activities which take place within the health care system. Presumably, this may translate to high quality given that medication will be administered with the fact in mind that every mistake or failure will be accounted for (Bemelmans-Videc 2007). Such accountability within the management will translate to high quality and performance altogether given that the management will manage the system of heath care with a spirit of accountability and responsibility. Again in this context, managerial accountability is deemed to increase quality as the management will work to ensure competency.

Thesis Objectives

In this context, it is important to bring out the point that the objective of this study is to examine accountability on health care on developing countries. In this respect, the proposed thesis will seek to address or rather investigate the effects of managerial accountability in health care to quality care delivery. Remarkably, managerial accountability has to do with the aspect of the management being in a position to account for every undertaking whether it a success or a failure (Clark & Copcutt 1997).

Arguably, the management of healthcare has been associated with low quality and as the topic of research suggests, there is need for the management to adopt an attitude of accountability or responsibility (Clifford & Clark 2004). Following this point, it is then the aspect of the proposed thesis to seek to proof whether it is true that managerial accountability is a drive for quality in health care. Therefore, the proposed thesis will seek to examine whether managerial accountability on health care can contribute to improved quality of health care wherever it is being applied.

Methodology

As a matter of fact, it is not possible for one to meet the provided objectives just from the blues. As such, there is a specific methodology which is required, which is suitable in accomplishing the stipulated specific objectives. In this milieu, the methodology that will be employed to accomplish this research will take in a qualitative research methodology. Following this point, it will employ the use of books, journals and websites in the larger perspective. Arguably, these sources of information will seek to answer the question of whether managerial accountability is a driving force on health care to attain quality. As well, it will seek to address the question whether accountability is well capacitated to improve quality in health care delivery. 

Literature Review

According to Tilley & Watson (2004, p. 145), health care system anticipates to deliver quality services of which they happen to be in the core of health care governance. Along with this point, it is within this kind of governance that there is the aspect of accountability. In this sense, Tilley & Watson (2004, p. 145) seeks to bring out the point that accountability should be in the core or rather the heart of clinical governance which in turn holds accountability as its core factor. Pauline (2000) asserts that accountability is the heart of clinical management and as such clinicians have in the past been accountable to their health professionals.

In line with this point, Pauline (2000) accounts that there have been recent scandals deemed dangerous and this is given to the reason that there has been limited accountability that has been found among doctors. Furthermore, the health care management should be accountable to the government and as such regulatory bodies. Collective responsibility is the goal of any accountability and as such, managerial accountability may translate to good performance among clinicians. This is given to the reason that management ensures that those that are lower as staff and employees work well. As such, managerial accountability is of great importance that is aimed at binging improvement to the whole system. Baggott (1994, p. 205) notes that quality in management makes one of the requirements put forward by the government and as such, this is achieved by means of the government employing the accountability of the management as one of the tools of quality management.

In line with this point, Tilley & Watson (2004) states that managerial accountability concerns the lower forms which take in performance, commercial and program accountability. Besides this point, Davies & Tavakoli (2004, p. 114) points out that the health care management ought to be accountable as far as service delivery is concerned; this means that the management should be responsible for all success and as such for all failures or mistakes made within the health care systems. In this case, it is expected of the management to give account to the community regarding delivery services within the system.

Again in this context, it is important to bring out the point that managerial accountability should ensure that there is responsible performance within their particular managerial units.  Figueras, Robinson & Jakubowski (2005), as well brings out the point that managerial accountability is directly linked to the development of a relationship between the purchaser and the provider. In order to ascertain whether the targets of the health care system have been met or achieved, it is required that managerial accountability prevails. In particular, developing countries have been pointed out as to  have problems of funding the delivery of the care and as such, managerial accountability in such countries may prove to be of great importance according to  Robinson & Jakubowski (2005, p. 277).

Another point to note is that in managerial accountability, good management should ensure that they question the quality of care made proviso of (Cronin& Rawlings-Anderson 2003). In fact, the management should ensure that there is a great responsibility associated with high safety and quality of care and as such, it should be maintained (Tan 2001). As well, hospitals should provide information regarding the services provided by the clinicians and as such, this should be accompanied by the quality of how the services are provided (Dlugacz, 2006, p. 17). The management of the health care system is actually entitled to provide information regarding the quality of care that is being delivered along with the outcome produced by the care provided (Lighter & Fair 2004, p. 555).

Following the reviewed literature on the relationship between managerial accountability and quality within the health care system, Thailand will be the developing country of interest pointing out to the point to managerial accountability as it is related to quality improvement In fact, Nontapet (2008) brings out the point that professional accountability or responsibility is concerned with the quality, standards, service improvement and in the larger perspective patient advocacy. There are several factors that describe professional accountability and as such, they take in, patient rights respectability, code of ethics responsibility, moral sensitivity, patient advocacy, professional expansion and self-development and as such, it is advisable for Thailand.

In fact, Thailand being a developing country, examining managerial accountability of the health care system may be a hard task. In the same line of thought, Thailand has been encouraging and developing different forms of involvement of people on public health issues. Accordingly,  health issues and especially for the rural communities, such as founding of  public health volunteer unit,  health instructions, and support for forming of health groups or societies like the exercise groups, need to be brought into the health care systems of Thailand (Mills, Rasheed & Tollman 2006).

Significance and conclusion

More to this point, Thailand seems to be experiencing the difficulties that come along with the lack of managerial accountability. Introspectively, the research in the context is directed to address quality of health care performance relating this factor to managerial accountability. Needless to say, examining the managerial accountability as a drive to quality in health care will be of a great contribution to improving quality of care in improving quality in health care system while taking the example of Thailand.