Running head: ETHICAL DILEMMA PAPER Ethical Dilemma Paper: The Need to Know HUMN232 / DeVry University April 16, 2011 The Health Information Management (HIM) professional’s job description is more a statement of ethical responsibilities than it is a traditional description of the duties and tasks an employer expects to be carried out. “The HIM’s core ethical obligation is to protect patient privacy and confidential communication. This obligation is at the center of his or her decision making, regardless of employment site or employment responsibilities.” (Johns & etal, 2007) For this reason, a HIM professional must be a person of high moral character and virtue due to the sensitivity of the information they are responsible for daily. In some order they might be classified as an ethicist. Their professional responsibilities exceed any personal values they may have while on the job.
The health care environment has to change practice and tactics to remain viable by using evidenced-based business practice models to remain relevant. The tool assists leadership to deliberate issues and effectively distributes resources to areas in demand to mitigate financial loss resulting in poor quality of care. Currently the United States health care system is enduring significant nursing shortages that will have severe health care consequences on the Baby-Boomer generation.
In addition to identifying and following advanced directives, practitioners are also faced with the legal and ethical implications in end of life treatment and care. Palliative care and comfort care measures are another area that significantly impacts the health care provider also today. As we have made so many advances in medical care, we must also look at the quality of life that remains when we have prolonged someone’s life. As terminal conditions continue to progress, health care providers continue to have an ethical and legal obligation to promote the best possible care for the patient. Sometimes this means not aggressively treating a terminal illness and allowing the patient to choose to die with dignity and as comfortable as possible.
As the health care system struggles to provide access to care for all people in a cost-effective manner, calls for a much needed change. The aging population is sicker and needs more complex care requiring the need for the constant evolution of evidence-based practice. New technologies and advanced treatment options are more available will require continued research and implementation of evidence-based practice to provide quality
Health care leader Eric Chapman has promoted a philosophy of “radical love” With all of the latest Bells and whistles a hospital cannot be considered a healing Hospital if the care is not delivered by a compassionate caring staff. (Eberst, 2008) Healing Hospitals have educational tools for patients and families to enhance healthy living. The concept of a healing hospital gives hope to those requiring the services of the health care system. Unfortunately the concept of “Radical Love” in healthcare is quite radical. Health care has become so technological and sterile in its approach that a loving touch is often thought of as a waste of precious care giver time.
The notion of hiring people with a strong financial background is effective and very practical in healthcare. Time seems to be an issue today in healthcare, therefore having to learn finances on the job seems counterproductive. The greatest lesson taken form this article is the fact that I have never really thought of healthcare as a business until recently and the significance to think like a business person is an effective way of thinking in order to lead a team and develop a strategic plan that allows both administrator and physician to work together for a common
Introduction With quality, being a big factor in healthcare, patient safety has proven to be one of most pressing health care challenges for hospitals and providers. The Affordable Care Act, which includes policies to help physicians, hospitals, and other caregivers improve safety and quality of patient care, is also intended to make health care more affordable. According to healthcare.gov, Medicare will begin to reward hospitals that provide high quality care for their patients through the new Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program. This means that Medicare will pay hospitals for inpatient acute care services based on care quality, not just the quantity of the services they provide. Changing how payments are made to hospitals for services, there is an expectation that there will be higher quality care for all hospital patients.
What are the determinants of health in humans. When there is a definition of health it is now time to find the outcome measures often in terms of determinants that each society believes to be a risk to health. Extensive research has to be completed to find health determinants and even then health policies must be developed to reflect these determinants of health. Research can be collected by different methods such as telephone, mail or face to face interviews. Usually the most used method of collecting research by companies is face to face interviews.
(Sultz & Young pg. 228). All of these factors have contributed to the increased costs of the health care system put on the public and has also influenced some of the barriers that have led to the access of healthcare I spoke about above. The AMA (American Medical Association) also attributes the high cost of health care from the rising toll of preventable illness & inefficiencies in the health care system. They have identified four strategies to contain health care cost, they consist of reduce the burden of preventable disease, make health care delivery more efficient, reduce nonclinical health system costs that do not contribute to patient care and promote value-based decision making at all levels.(http://www.ama-assn.org).
The next step is sedating the patient with the use of anesthesia or sedatives; a plastic surgeon sedates or completely anesthetizes patients prior to the start of surgery. Depending on the nature of the procedure, this is done with the assistance of a nurse and/or an anesthesiologist. Another thing is reconstructive surgery. A plastic surgeon may perform reconstructive surgery, with repairs from trauma or defects inflicted on a patient. For example, if a patient were severely burned, a surgeon might perform a skin grafting, removing dead skin and replacing it with tissue from another body part.