Ethics in Health Services Management

Book excerpt: Ethics in Health Services Management provides a decision-making framework that clarifies ethical issues and points the way toward the best course of action for organizations as well as individual healthcare leadersan indispensable resource for healthcare executives as well as those preparing to enter the field. With more material than in any previous edition, the fifth edition of Ethics in Health Services Management addresses such critical contemporary issues as patient autonomy, end-of-life decisions, consent for treatment, appropriate resource allocation, whistle blowing, and confidentiality. An added focus on public health issues expands this new edition's already far-reaching scope. More than 80 incisive case studies and vignettes from a full range of care delivery settings demonstrate how to use various ethical constructs to analyze situations and subsequently make more organized, defensible decisions. Offering a framework for identifying and solving ethical dilemmas, this acclaimed text reveals how to understand and apply ethical principles; approach ethical paradoxes with sound problem-solving methodology; formulate personal and professional codes of ethics; identify, link, and integrate values, vision, and mission statements; develop and use institutional review boards and ethics committees; resolve conflicts of interest and avoid self-dealing; and maximize community benefit while protecting and enhancing organization assets.