Accountability in Public Health Units

Accountability in public health units: using a modified nominal group technique to develop a balanced scorecard for performance measurement.

BACKGROUND Little attention has been paid to the need for accountability instruments applicable across all health units in the public health system. One tool, the balanced scorecard was created for industry and has been successfully adapted for use in Ontario hospitals. It consists of 4 quadrants: financial performance, outcomes, customer satisfaction and organizational development. The aim of ...

[Public health, local health units, and the Brazilian health system].

This article focuses on the development of public health in Brazil, with the aim of analyzing the present process of decentralization of health care. The authors argue that the neoliberal or conservative position is unable to offer a reasonable solution to problems in the health care system. On the other hand, the reformist position concentrates its attention on the health system and its admini...

Hopes and realities of public health accountability policies.

Holding local boards of health accountable presents challenges related to governance and funding arrangements. These challenges result in (a) multiple accountability pressures, (b) population health outcomes whose change is measureable only over long time periods and (c) board of health activity that is often not the key immediate direct contributor to achieving desired outcomes. We examined ho...

Public Accountability of Autonomous Public Organizations

Nurse practitioner role implementation in Ontario public health units.

OBJECTIVES To identify the barriers and facilitators associated with the implementation of the nurse practitioner (NP) role in Ontario's public health units (PHUs), the NPs' job satisfaction, and the relationship between NP job satisfaction and practice dimensions. METHODS This descriptive study involved a postal survey of all NPs (N = 29) working in Ontario PHUs. RESULTS Twenty-eight (96.5...