Ethics in Healthcare Essay

Healthcare is a diverse field with many specialties, but a commonality in whole manifestations is providers morals. Ethics means following the standards and guidelines set by institutions as it relates to job duties, pro behavior, and patients. The decisions made by wellnesscare passe-partouts, be it physicians, nurses or medical checkup staff, affect real people and may mean the difference in the midst of life and death. The health and welfare of patients, along with the very serious aspect of treatment facilitation, requires that respectable standards be followed every step of the way for the health care professional. Following ethic issues will give us a schoolwide view of what it means and how it applies to the healthcare industry. Healthcare professionals follow morality from how medical guidelines are set, how moral philosophy can become legal issues, and ethical effects on patience.Setting of GuidelinesThe settings of guidelines differ from facility to facility, bu t the core values are the similar. Guidelines are usually produced at national or international levels by medical associations or governmental bodies, such as the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Local healthcare providers may produce their own set of guidelines or adapt them from existing top-level guidelines. (Guidelines & recommendations, n.d.) Clinical practice guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for precise clinical circumstances. (Institute of Medicine, 1990). Such documents sire been in use for thousands of years during the ideal history of medicine. (Wikipedia) Clinical protocol is a predefined writtenprocedural method in the design and implementation of experiments. protocols are written whenever it is desirable to standardize a laboratory method to ensure successful replication of results by others in the same laboratory or by other laboratories. Detailed protocols also facilitate the assessment of results through peer review. In addition to detailed procedures and lists of required equipment and instruments, protocols frequently include in processation on safety precautions, the calculation of results and reporting standards, including statistical analysis and rules for predefining and documenting excluded data to avoid bias.(Wikipedia) in all aspects of guidelines all have a form of ethics that follow.Ethics GroupsThere are many different ethics groups in healthcare. Ethics groups improve patient care and the health of the public by examining and promoting physician professionalism. The Ethics groups are organized into three separate as stated by (AMA) Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA), which promotes adherence to the professional ethical standards set out in the cipher through its judicial function, Ethics Resource Center, which provides students and physicians with the essential tools and skills to address ethical challenge s in a ever-changing health care environment, and the Institute for Ethics which is an academic research center uniquely situated in the nations largest professional association of physicians. All these different groups listed above, promote ethics in healthcare. Another ethic that effect patients is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). As stated by (AMA) Created in 1996 (HIPPA) provides the ability to transfer and continue health insurance coverage for millions of American workers and their families when they modification or lose their jobs Reduces health care fraud and abuse mandates industry-wide standards for health care information on electronic billing and other processes and requires the protection and confidential handling of protected health information.So many different parts of ethics that effect patients seem never-ending but all these things are set in place to help patients, but when do these ethics go too far? When do they become legal iss ues? Ethics codes and policies of facilities can turn wrong fast and one persons view change others as things go awry and it becomes a legal issue. An example ofethics becoming a legal issue is a Texas practice of law that says life-sustaining treatment cannot be withdrawn from a pregnant patient, regardless of her end-of-life wishes.Recently there was a Texas woman who was brain dead and pregnant. She and her husband both paramedics, between from each one other, did not want to be kept alive by machines in this type of situation. The hospital applied the law cited above, but is this the correct type of ethics governing hospitals? Larry Thompson, a states attorney arguing on behalf of the hospital stated the hospital was trying to protect the rights of the fetus as it believed Texas law instructed it to do. (Urbanski, D. 2014) Keeping a dead body alive with a fetus that had slim to no chance at life, where do ethics come in? Are ethics more of a personal belief or opinion of some? Ethical CodesEthics codes help standardize the quality of ethics in healthcare field. The Code of Medical Ethics made by the American Medical Association (AMA) which was founded in 1847 unanimously adopted the worlds first national code of professional ethics in medicine. Since that time it has been the authoritative ethics guide for practicing physicians. The Code articulates the enduring values of medicine as a profession. As a statement of the values to which physicians commit themselves individually and collectively, the Code is a touchstone for medicine as a professional community. It defines medicines integrity and the source of the professions authority to self-regulate. (AMA) This code has set the guidelines for the medical industry. The Hippocratic Oath also shows how guidelines are set in medicine.Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by doctors and other healthcare professionals swearing to practice medicine honestly. There have been ethical guidelines in medicin e a long time, the Hippocratic oath was written in 5th century BC. (Tyson, 2001) Such documents have been in use for thousands of years during the entire history of medicine. Each medical facility has their own ethical guidelines to follow and it plays an important role in healthcare and plays a role on patients. The hold out code is the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ). NAHQs (2011)Maintains active personal and professional development programs in the field of healthcare quality and exhibits a broad range of knowledge creates and supports an environment that fosters teamwork, emphasizes quality,recognizes the customer, and promotes learning maintains a commitment to the improvement of the professional through participation in, and active support of, the local, state, and national professional organizations addresses concerns and takes formal actions to resolve or report the unethical or questionable practices to the appropriate channels. (Code of Ethics for Healt hcare Quality Professionals, n.d.)ConclusionIn summary, ethics have effects on how medical guidelines are set, how ethics can become legal issues, and ethical effects on patients. Every part of healthcare ethics plays an important role in the process. Decisions of facilities, providers, and patients are all impacted by ethics. Medical professionals must follow ethical guidelines and be aware of legal issues, and ethical effects on patience. The decisions made by healthcare professionals, be it physicians, nurses or medical staff, affect real people and may mean the difference between life and death. The health and welfare of patients, along with the very serious aspect of treatment facilitation, requires that ethical standards be followed every step of the way for the healthcare professional.References(AMA) Code of medical ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttp//www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/code-medical-ethics.pageAmerican medical association (AMA)-Council on ethical and judicial affairs. (n.d.). Retrieved from http//www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/ama-councils/council-ethical-judicial-affairs.page(AMA) Ethics resource center. (n.d.). Retrieved from http//www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/about-ethics-group/ethics-resource-center.page(AMA) Health insurance portability and answerableness act. (n.d.). Retrieved from http//www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/coding-billing-insurance/hipaahealth-insurance-portability-accountability-act.pageGuidelines & recommendations. (n.d.). Retrieved from http//www.ahrq.gov/professionals/clinicians-providers/guidelines-recommendations/index.html(NAHQ) Code of ethics and standards of practice for healthcare quality professionals. (p.3 n.d.). Retrieved from http//www.nahq.org/uploads/files/about/codestandards.pdfNational institute of health -Clinical practice guidelines. (n.d.) as cited by (Institute for medicine, 1990) R etrieved from http//nccam.nih.gov/health/providers/clinicalpractice.htmlProtocol (natural sciences). (n.d.). Retrieved from http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_trial_protocolTyson, P. (n.d.). The Hippocratic Oath today. Retrieved from http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/hippocratic-oath-today.htmlUrbanski, D. (2014, 01 26). Family Pregnant and brain-dead Texas woman removed from life support.. Retrieved from http//www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01/26/family-pregnant-and-brain-dead-texas-woman-removed-from-life-support/