title: Home and community care sector accountability.
abstract: This paper focuses on accountability for the home and community care (HCC) sector in Ontario. The many different service delivery approaches, funding methods and types of organizations delivering HCC services make this sector highly heterogeneous. Findings from a document analysis and environmental scan suggest that organizations delivering HCC services face multiple accountability requirements from a wide array of stakeholders. Government stakeholders tend to rely on regulatory and expenditure instruments to hold organizations to account for service delivery. Semi-structured key informant interview respondents reported that the expenditure-based accountability tools being used carried a number of unintended consequences, both positive and negative. These include an increased organizational focus on quality, shifting care time away from clients (particularly problematic for small agencies), dissuading innovation, and reliance on performance indicators that do not adequately support the delivery of high-quality care.
authors.affiliation: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Bridgepoint Colllaboratory for Research and Innovation, Health System Performance Research Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Steele Gray
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Whitney
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Berta
authors.affiliation: Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Raisa B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Deber
authors.affiliation: Professor and Associate Dean of Arts, Research and Graduate Studies, Ryerson University, Co-Chair, Canadian Research Network for Care in the Community, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lum
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004282:Documentation; D005376:Financial Management / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D033161:Government Regulation; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009864:Ontario; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D012941:Social Responsibility