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Professions and the Pursuit of Transparency in Healthcare: Two Cases of Soft Autonomy

Levay, Charlotta LU and Waks, Caroline (2009) In Organization Studies 30(5). p.509-527
Abstract
Contemporary professions are increasingly challenged to open up to scrutiny from the outside. Earlier research is focused on two main types of responses and consequences: colonization by a managerial logic of self-monitoring and decoupling of auditing and professional practice. his paper describes a different type of response which implies that professionals get actively involved in monitoring their own activities, without losing their professional autonomy. Two cases from Swedish healthcare were investigated: accreditation at a hospital laboratory and the national quality registries. In both cases, professional involvement took the form of translation and negotiation in expert networks, restrained by a certain resistance towards external... (More)
Contemporary professions are increasingly challenged to open up to scrutiny from the outside. Earlier research is focused on two main types of responses and consequences: colonization by a managerial logic of self-monitoring and decoupling of auditing and professional practice. his paper describes a different type of response which implies that professionals get actively involved in monitoring their own activities, without losing their professional autonomy. Two cases from Swedish healthcare were investigated: accreditation at a hospital laboratory and the national quality registries. In both cases, professional involvement took the form of translation and negotiation in expert networks, restrained by a certain resistance towards external monitoring, but driven by an interest in legitimizing and developing professional work. he resulting situation is characterized as a 'soft autonomy' which combines professional internalization of originally non-professional auditing ideas with maintained professional control over evaluation criteria. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
audit society, professions, soft autonomy, soft, bureaucracy, transparency, healthcare services, soft regulation
in
Organization Studies
volume
30
issue
5
pages
509 - 527
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • wos:000266362800003
  • scopus:65949095221
ISSN
1741-3044
DOI
10.1177/0170840609104396
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: The VĂ¥rdal Institute (016540000), Department of Business Administration (012003000)
id
d7023b65-2e4b-4652-89c2-5fb55bfc5a63 (old id 1424752)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:19:06
date last changed
2022-04-21 05:48:10
@article{d7023b65-2e4b-4652-89c2-5fb55bfc5a63,
  abstract     = {{Contemporary professions are increasingly challenged to open up to scrutiny from the outside. Earlier research is focused on two main types of responses and consequences: colonization by a managerial logic of self-monitoring and decoupling of auditing and professional practice. his paper describes a different type of response which implies that professionals get actively involved in monitoring their own activities, without losing their professional autonomy. Two cases from Swedish healthcare were investigated: accreditation at a hospital laboratory and the national quality registries. In both cases, professional involvement took the form of translation and negotiation in expert networks, restrained by a certain resistance towards external monitoring, but driven by an interest in legitimizing and developing professional work. he resulting situation is characterized as a 'soft autonomy' which combines professional internalization of originally non-professional auditing ideas with maintained professional control over evaluation criteria.}},
  author       = {{Levay, Charlotta and Waks, Caroline}},
  issn         = {{1741-3044}},
  keywords     = {{audit society; professions; soft autonomy; soft; bureaucracy; transparency; healthcare services; soft regulation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{509--527}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Organization Studies}},
  title        = {{Professions and the Pursuit of Transparency in Healthcare: Two Cases of Soft Autonomy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840609104396}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/0170840609104396}},
  volume       = {{30}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}