Mechanisms of Accountability for the Realization of the Right to Health in China

Qiu, Shengnan; Macnaughton, Gillian

The delivery of high-quality health services demands the professional performance of health practitioners. It is important, therefore, to have effective mechanisms to regulate and monitor health practitioners. Professional accountability requires, among other things, that health professionals answer to hierarchical superiors, participate in hearings to provide answers to the public, and provide explanations of treatments administered to patients. 75 Within any health system, health professionals are obliged to provide appropriate and efficient treatment. However, due to information asymmetries between health professionals and their patients, not every patient is able to judge whether services and treatment they receive meet professional standards and are the most suitable for their needs. Examination of the quality of health delivery requires professional knowledge. Therefore, professional accountability mechanisms must rely upon experts in health care or operate through associations with professional knowledge. 76 In some countries, professional associations supervise and monitor health professionals through licensing requirements and codes of conduct. In China, there are medical professional associations, such as the Chinese Medical Doctors Association (CMDA), but these organizations are not in charge of training and regulating health professionals or establishing standards for practice. According to the Medical Practitioners Act of 1999, the qualification of health professionals is managed by health authorities at each level, but with the assistance of medical associations. Thus, health practitioners are actually monitored by health sectors at different levels of the government.