Essay Example on Accountability in Healthcare: Transparency for Quality Care

A third-party organization such as Medicaid and Medicare are examples of entities that are involved in the transaction of healthcare services but are not the principal are less interested in the quality of healthcare given to their members. It is through transparency that accountability is promoted as it improves the communication of benefits and risks which ends up in support of spreading and sharing of knowledge to the public (Siri Wiig, 2018). This essay aims to discuss whether third party organizations contribute to increased transparency and patient safety improvement or unnecessary reporting of burdens without improving quality in healthcare.

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Agency relationship in healthcare organizations is a critical aspect of healthcare quality and financial management. In an agency relationship, the agents act on behalf of the principal (Medicine, 2010). Thus, if the agent acts out on self- interest, the principal may suffer a loss. Healthcare providers are agents for the providers of capital, and third-party payers are agents for those who pay insurance premiums (McLean, 2002).

On issues of cost and quality of services in healthcare, patients and consumers are disadvantaged due to the lack of transparency in price and overall cost of healthcare services. As a result, payers have the power in taking the leading role to promote transparency on health quality and cost, as a means to improve the overall patient safety and reduce unnecessary spending (Beaton, 2018). Mainly because patients rely heavily on health insurers to purchase these services, yet health insurers are often unable to influence the cost or the quality of the health services provided (Center, 2009). However, while third party organizations play a pivotal role in promoting accountability of the healthcare cost to their members, little efforts have been invested in improving the quality of healthcare given to their members.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is safe to say that third party organizations indeed contribute to additional reporting of burdens without improving quality. This claim is evidenced by the increasing cases of an inaccurate diagnosis, medication errors, and unnecessary treatments approach despite receiving compensations from the insurers. It is also fair to say that transparency has had very little effect on health insurance costs and overall performance by the health care practitioners.

References

Beaton, T. (2018, September 19). Payers Play Crucial Role in Healthcare Quality Transparency. Retrieved from Health Payer Intelligence: https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/payers-play-crucial-role-in-healthcare-quality-transparency

McLean, R. (2002). Financial Management in Health Care Organizations. Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=m2RbAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Medicine, I. o.-B. (2010). Transparency of Cost and Performance. In S. R. Yong PL (Ed.), The Healthcare Imperative: Lowering Costs and Improving Outcomes: Workshop Series Summary. Washington: National Academies Press (US). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53921/#__NBK53921_dtls__

Siri Wiig, K. A. (2018). Transparency in Health Care: Disclosing Adverse Events to the Public. Risk Communication for the Future, 111-125. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74098-0_8