Discussion Exercise – Chapters 7 and 8

Discussion Exercise – Chapters 7 and 8

“Chapter 7: Ethics in the Management of Health Information Systems” by C. Scott Kruse and “Chapter 8: Technological Advances in Health Care: Blessing or Ethics Nightmare?” by Cristian H. Lieneck of the book Health Care Ethics: Critical Issues for 21st Century by Morrison and Furlong (2019) highlight the emerging ethical concerns and dilemmas with the use of new and advanced health information technologies in healthcare. Information communication technologies are fast becoming a part of the healthcare delivery system. The adoption of technologies such as health information management (HIM) and health information systems (HISs) have improved the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare systems and operations management. HIM and HIS also provide the essential information and data to improve the accuracy of diagnoses and patient care planning and management.

Regardless of the benefits these healthcare information technologies present, they attract various ethical dilemmas with their application and use in healthcare settings. Almost all types of healthcare organizations in the United States are under pressure to integrate various technologies in both clinical and administrative operations as a regulatory and financial reimbursement requirement. The emphasis today focuses on improving the effectiveness of the utilization of healthcare information technologies. This is not only to help healthcare organizations meet the set quality and regulatory demands and tap into the full potential and benefits of these technologies but also to help navigate the dynamic ethical environment. All in all, the continued advances in medical and health information technologies open new opportunities in healthcare with complex ethical implications. Having a clear understanding of these technologies, their various elements, and how they interact with ethical principles can improve their utilization in health care in a way that overcomes the confusing nature of rules, regulations, laws, and ethical standards.

Ethical Challenges

Current and future healthcare managers are expected to face various ethical issues in delivering responsible and compassionate patient care. The major issues include patient confidentiality, patient relationships, malpractice and negligence, informed consent, and issues related to physician-assisted suicide (PAD).

Patient Confidentiality

Patient confidentiality is an ethical requirement and obligation that requires healthcare providers to protect all of a patient’s personally identifiable information. As the healthcare industry adopts more advanced technologies in delivering care and managing patient information, managers are and will be required to put in place the right and well-updated safeguards to protect medical technologies and health information systems from unauthorized access. From a personal perspective, the issue of patient confidentiality has multiple ethical implications. It can negatively impact patients’ trust and confidence in health organizations to ensure the well-being and safety of their personal information.

Patient Relationships

Patient relationships refer to the way and nature in which care providers interact with patients during the delivery of care. With the continued use of technology in healthcare, current and future health managers will be expected to focus on the development of positive and trust-based patient relationships as a priority in healthcare delivery. From a personal view, issues related to patient relationships have implications on ethical principles such as patient autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence, as well as patient confidentiality, and may affect the quality of care.

Malpractice and Negligence

            Malpractices related to negligence arising from a failure of healthcare professionals to deliver needed care to a patient, leading to patient harm. Healthcare managers of the future will need to redefine the ethics and obligations of healthcare professionals at a time when monitoring technologies will be widely employed to manage patients. From a personal point of view, the future of healthcare delivery with advanced technologies such as those that can monitor patients will need redefined ethical guidelines to define to what extent health providers are responsible for the patient’s safety and outcomes in a technology-driven healthcare system.

Informed Consent

Informed consent involves ensuring the patient understands the risks and benefits of available care options before they make uncoerced decisions. Health information is readily available on the internet today. From a personal view, healthcare managers will need to ensure that the information available is accurate and continuously engage patients and society to consider the sources of information.

Issues Related to Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAD)

PAD ethical issues arise from the decisions of end-of-life care and the role of the physician in such decisions. PAD is expected to rise in demand as a majority of people with chronic diseases seek to terminate their lives. Current and future healthcare managers will have to make complex legal and ethical decisions to authorize PAD. From a personal view, regardless of personal views on life, the healthcare manager must respect patient decisions and commit to upholding patient autonomy in PAD situations.

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Ethical IssuesTop of Form

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the ethical issues of patient confidentiality, patient relationships, malpractice and negligence, informed consent, and issues related to physician-assisted suicide (PAD). For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic saw a fall in concerns for patient confidentiality as certain strategies, such as contact tracing employed in managing the pandemic, traded off patient privacy (Cho et al., 2020). This increased the risk of unauthorized access to patient information. The COVID-19 pandemic also posed a challenge to patient relationships as face-to-face interactions were restricted. Regarding malpractice and negligence, the limited interactions and pressure on the available resources risked incidents of patient negligence and malpractice.

Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the ethical issues of informed consent and PAD. The mandated COVID-19 vaccines as an intervention to manage the pandemic with limited efficacy and safety data disregarded the ethics of informed consent (Olick et al., 2021). Hoffman (2021) also notes that the strain on resources due to the pandemic further created ethical issues with end-of-life care and affected how decisions related to PAD were made, resulting in many ethical controversies.

References

Cho, H., Ippolito, D., & Yu, Y. W. (2020). Contact Tracing Mobile Apps for COVID-19: Privacy Considerations and Related Trade-offs. ArXiv Preprint ArXiv:2003.11511. https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.11511v2

Hoffman, E. (2021). COVID Controversy in Physician-Assisted Suicide. IdeaFest. https://red.library.usd.edu/idea/307

Morrison, E. E., & Furlong, E. (2019). Health care ethics: Critical issues for the 21st century (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Olick, R. S., Shaw, J., & Yang, Y. T. (2021). Ethical Issues in Mandating COVID-19 Vaccination for Health Care Personnel. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 96(12), 2958–2962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2021.10.020

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Objective: The students will complete a Virtual Classroom Discussion Exercise that will Extend their knowledge beyond the core required materials for this class, Engage in collaborative learning with other students to improve the quality of the learning experience for all students and Apply the higher cognitive skills associated with critical thinking to your academic and professional work.

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES:

Students will judgmentally amount the readings from the Chapter assigned in your textbook. This assignment is prearranged to help you learn in all disciplines because it helps students process information rather than simply receive it.
You need to read the PowerPoint Presentation assigned for week 4 and develop a 2-3 page paper replicating your appreciation and competence to apply the readings to your ethics knowledge. Each paper must be typewritten in 12-point font and double-spaced with standard margins. Follow APA style 7^th edition format when referring to the selected articles and include a reference page.

Health care in the 21st century is governed by a confusing array of rules, regulations, laws and ethical standards. Issues that involve confidentiality, informed consent and patient relationships can appear out of nowhere, even when healthcare workers have the best of intentions. What’s legal today might not be considered ethical, and there is the ever-present threat of being sued for negligence and malpractice. There are unresolved issues around doctor-assisted dying that have yet to be worked out, while medical procedures considered ethical for adults might not be seen as ethical for minors.

Here are the top five ethical issues that healthcare managers of today and tomorrow will be facing in the course of delivering responsible and compassionate patient care.

1. Patient Confidentiality
2. Patient Relationships
3. Malpractice and Negligence
4. Informed Consent
5. Issues Related To Physician Assisted Suicide (PAD).

STUDENT CHALLENGE:

1. Describe, mention and define the five ethical issues of today’s healthcare managers and explain your point of view related to the ethical implications.
2. Designate and discuss how these five issues were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.