For discussion and debate about the ethics of health care organizations and the wider health system.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Recognition
The onlinecollegesanduniversities website cited this blog as one of the "top medical ethics blogs." A number of my own favorites are listed as well, and I found some interesting new links on the list.
I've been in health care for 50 years -- as psychiatrist, medical director, teacher/researcher, consultant, leader of the ethics program at a not-for-profit health plan, and patient. I'm a clinical professor in the departments of Population Medicine and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. With colleagues I've written two books about health system ethics: "Setting Limits Fairly: Learning to Share Resources for Health," and "No Margin, No Mission: Health-Care Organizations and the Quest for Ethical Excellence." I've had my Medicare card since 2004.
Medical ethics has traditionally focused on the individual patient, the individual doctor, and the patient-doctor relationship. But today most care occurs in organizational settings – group practices, HMOs and ACOs, VA and more. Insurers and other third parties have a huge influence on the exam room. Medicare shapes care for the elderly and disabled. Medicaid does the same for the poor. Hospital cultures and policies affect what sick patients experience, for both better and worse.
All this means that the ethical quality of health care is profoundly influenced by the ethics of organizations. We can’t have ethical health care without ethical organizations.
In the blog I discuss how organizations engage with the ethical dimensions of their work. I look for approaches we can learn from, not simply to wring my hands and rant. I hope the blog stimulates discussion and debate, and encourage readers to present their own perspectives and suggest topics for postings. Although organizational ethics is my main focus, I also write about other ethical issues that interest me.
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