Accountability in non-profit health care organisations: towards building online practices

Abstract

Online accountability (OA) is an essential aspect of overall organisational accountability efforts in non-profit organisations. The research project on which this article is based aimed to: (a) explore variations in OA practices in non-profit hospitals in the United States; and (b) determine the factors that are associated with higher levels of OA practices. The findings suggest that the majority of hospitals had resources for well-developed websites as overall accessibility scores were very high. However, they were not utilising this medium to the fullest extent for accountability purposes, especially in the areas of performance and governance information. In addition, the study demonstrated that hospital capacity (specifically, size and volume) and total private contributions were robust predictors of OA practices.