The Social Construction of Accountability: Radiologists and Their Recordkeeping

The Social Construction of Accountability: Radiologists and Their Recordkeeping Practices Elizabeth Yakel Abstract Recordkeeping practices are a central means by which organizations demonstrate accountability. These practices, though, are socially constructed and owe as much to organizational or professional cultural and ethical norms as laws or procedural manuals. This paper discusses of accountability as a social construction situated in a specific spatial, temporal, and social setting, specifically it details a qualitative study of radiological reading rooms. This research focuses on the preparation of one form of documentary evidence, the radiological report. Major findings include the need to think about accountability in the plural. Multiple accountabilities exist in both recordkeeping processes and in the records themselves. Sustaining and balancing these accountabilities can be difficult and lead to compromises. Furthermore, accountabilities are the result of an iterative process between the individual and organizational levels that is required to make accountability robust and work.