Healthcare Ethics

You are the healthcare manager in a university medical center. After an inspection, JCAHO, your accreditor, notes that patient satisfaction surveys give you a low rating. Although your hospital has a great track record for disease detection, treatment, and monitoring, patients routinely rate their experience at and satisfaction with the hospital as low.

In follow-up interviews with patients, JCAHO discovers that patients felt they and their families were not well-informed about upcoming procedures and options. They had a general feeling of uncertainty about their care and treatment. One former patient stated, “The doctor spent more time talking with the medical residents and student nurses than with me!”

Answer each of the following questions in a paragraph of 5-7 sentences (for a total of 4 paragraphs):

1. Which ethical principles would you apply to this scenario? Which ethical theorists would you use to guide you? Refer to your textbook, putting all direct citations in quotes.
2. Which parts of the AHA’s Patient Care Partnership document would you apply to this scenario? Refer to specific parts of the document, putting all direct citations in quotes.
3. Which parts of the ACHE Code of Ethics would you apply to this scenario? Refer to specific parts of the document, putting all direct citations in quotes.
4. Describe an “action plan” to present to the accrediting body (JCAHO) to convince them you’re serious about improving your patient satisfaction scores.