1. the extent to which an individual is answerable to another (e.g., a supervisor, official review body, a group of peers) for his or her behavior, decisions, or judgments. In groups, accountability is influenced by anonymity and the extent to which the contributions of each member of the group are clearly identifiable.

2. in health care, the responsibility of individual providers, clinics, or hospitals to document their efforts, their resource utilization, and the outcome of their services and to report this information to insurance companies or state or federal agencies. —accountable adj.