tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post5240729455649040014..comments2024-02-15T03:26:38.897-05:00Comments on Health Care Organizational Ethics: Why Health Plans Should Have Ethics ProgramsJim Sabinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03087828142188534542noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post-23243962521393909832008-10-28T12:39:00.000-04:002008-10-28T12:39:00.000-04:00Jim, Didn't tell you I have ADD. hahaha. Was a jum...Jim, Didn't tell you I have ADD. hahaha. Was a jump ahead of myself.<BR/>So in closing, alas,yours,<BR/>DonnaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post-40204452547150545282008-10-28T12:36:00.000-04:002008-10-28T12:36:00.000-04:00Jim,Much thanks for the reply. Knowing what your s...Jim,<BR/>Much thanks for the reply. Knowing what your schedule must be, it was timely enough!<BR/>So very glad to hear about not for profit company. I honestly didn't realize they where around. Perhaps I haven't paid close enough attention.<BR/>Non the less, the approach to ethically based healthcare, from bed to home and beyond, is a lofty one which I greatly respect.<BR/>That is why my fears for the future are fraught with angst. People lost jobs, healthcare management on the table, the overall economy ominous, will make things harder for you. The climate will probably change greatly, just when you had a solid forecast!<BR/>Well, time insists I close. Cannot tell you how please I am to hear from you. Keep up the good work.<BR/>Funny you mentioned the election. My doorbell just rang. It was the postman with my better late than never Obama yardsign. Yes, I admit my allegiance, do hope not inappropriately so.<BR/>As with medical ethics, my belief in right to privacy over one's body is paramount and maybe where medical ethics begins.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post-80121179813424349202008-10-28T08:37:00.000-04:002008-10-28T08:37:00.000-04:00Hi Donna -Thank you for this posting. And, I'm sor...Hi Donna -<BR/><BR/>Thank you for this posting. And, I'm sorry about the delay in responding.<BR/><BR/>Your initial "oh no!" reaction to seeing that I am associated with an insurance company is important. Health insurance is in the middle of (1) patients who need insurance to access care, (2) physicians, hospitals and others who provide care and need to be paid, and (3)those who pay for care - employers, government (via tax revenues), and individuals themselves. <BR/><BR/>When providers raise prices and manufacturers market new, costly products, those who pay for care blame insurers and ask them to do something. When insurers tried to "manage care" in the 1990s, physicians and the public blamed them for intruding into the doctor-patient relationship.<BR/><BR/>The company at which I direct the ethics program is not for profit. That means that while we can't spend more than we receive from employers, individuals and public payers, we don't have the complication of equity ownership and the executive compensation that has been characteristic of the for profit sector. Our ethics program tries to bring the different stakeholders into dialogue to find constructive resulution to the conflicting values that are at the heart of modern health care.<BR/><BR/>Re the move towards parity - the fact that experience has shown that when mental health care is prudently managed the costs are predictable and controllable has been key. In the past employers feared that mental health would be a "black hole" for ever increasing costs. <BR/><BR/>And, great that you have been working on the election!<BR/><BR/>Best<BR/><BR/>JimJim Sabinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03087828142188534542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post-56166884887565222802008-10-22T22:48:00.000-04:002008-10-22T22:48:00.000-04:00Jim, I hardly know where to begin, sir. Your post ...Jim, <BR/>I hardly know where to begin, sir. Your post was revelatory, even though long overdue. I did read in your bio that you worked with an insurer, My initial response was honestly, "oh no"! That was until I read your blogs, especially this one. It is evident how passionate you are regarding this plausible marriage of professional healthcare and medical ethics. How positively our healthcare environments [albeit overtaxed] have greatly evolved. If I am correctly understanding that there is an inclusion in the national bailout package regarding parity for mental health care/coverage, then I am joyful. More accurately, I am indeed thrilled, yet puzzled. Puzzled as to why, after passage of the ADA, it has taken so long for private insurers to accept and/or sympathetically acknowledge. The Act which did address the credibility that a disability not be only physical in nature, but mental as well. I don't believe I just told YOU that! haha<BR/>Your work is impressive. I commend you.<BR/>Cannot find any comment, or returned note from you, that is in Wordpress. I was notified one was sent. It has been some time since I've had a posting, [The election fills my time, and can Nov 4 please come!]<BR/>I'm Donna. If I get inspired with wisdom worth sharing, and post it, if you want, e-mail is dcauxter@gmail.com. <BR/>Keep up the good works!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post-67089390713289189512008-10-21T08:03:00.000-04:002008-10-21T08:03:00.000-04:00Hi Alex -Thanks for the encouragement. I've fe...Hi Alex -<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the encouragement. I've felt a bit like Don Quixote in my efforts to encourage health insurance companies to develop ethics programs/ethics committees. The three programs I'm aware of are at Harvard Pilgrim, Kaiser Permanente, and Group Health Cooperative. All three have (KP & GHC) or recently had (HP) delivery systems as part of the organization, and so were familiar with the constructive role that ethics committees can play at hospitals. Many years ago United Behavioral Health had an ethics committee, driven by a physician employee with a special interest. But to the best of my knowledge we don't yet have any robust programs at insurers that haven't also been care proviers.<BR/><BR/>Best<BR/><BR/>JimJim Sabinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03087828142188534542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post-18236999315038894012008-10-20T23:45:00.000-04:002008-10-20T23:45:00.000-04:00Great PostGreat PostAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com