Ethics and Patient-Centered Care

Write a 4-6 page executive report that analyzes ethical dilemmas presented in a case study, identifies the ethical principles that guide decision making and describes the external and internal factors that must be considered in ethical dilemmas. Explain evidence-based strategies to resolve ethical dilemmas and how personal moral integrity influences decision-making.

Introduction

The health care system in the United States is in the process of being transformed from a patriarchal health care system to the currently emerging patient-centered care model. The patient cultural revolution, boosted by technological advances and increased access to health-related information, presents tremendous change and managerial challenges throughout the entire health care system. These changes affect direct patient care facilities as well as the organizations and administrative departments related to, and supporting, their efforts. The patient-centered care model has increased the need for a solid leadership understanding of the patient experience and an enhanced ability to measure, interpret, and report it accurately. Ethical challenges related to patient-centered care present additional considerations to the existing managerial task of balancing quality care and fiscal responsibility.

Preparation

Suppose you are the new health care administrator at Brookside Hospital. Brookside Hospital is in the process of strategically aligning with patient-centered care principles, which are founded on ethics and represent a major transformation away from the patriarchal health care system of the past. End-of-life care and death with dignity are two important aspects of patient-centered care.

Read the patient-centered care Case Study Scenario [PDF]. Within the case study provided are three distinct ethical dilemmas:

• An internal or organizational dilemma.
• A formal process dilemma.
• A discharge and end-of-life planning dilemma.

You must now prepare an executive report for the hospital’s board of directors to explain the situation and how you handled it.

Review the resources provided to see how they may help you in completing this assessment. Conduct your own search in the Capella library and on the Internet to locate authoritative resources on patient-centered care. You will need at least four resources to support your work in this assessment.

Format this assessment as an executive report. It should be well organized and logical, include a title page and references page, and follow APA guidelines for citations and references.

Instructions

In your executive report and for each of the ethical dilemmas, be sure you include the following:

• Analyze the ethical dilemmas presented in the case study.
  • Describe each of the ethical dilemmas.
  • Explain the factors that contributed to each dilemma.
• Identify the ethical principle that you used for each ethical dilemma to help guide your decision making.
• Describe the external forces and internal organizational factors you considered for each dilemma.
  • Describe any legal or regulatory forces.
  • Describe any organizational policies and/or processes.
• Explain the evidence-based strategy you used to resolve each ethical dilemma. (Hint: another way to think of this is to imagine that you did take action on each of the dilemmas. With that in mind, what strategy would you use and what supporting evidence do you have that the strategy is sound and effective?)
• Explain how an awareness of your own personal integrity helped you decide on a strategy.

Additional Requirements

• Include a title page and references page.
• Number of pages: 4–6, double-spaced.
• At least four current scholarly or professional resources.
• APA format for citations and references.
• Times New Roman font, 12-point.

Note: The assessments in this course build upon each other, so you are strongly encouraged to complete them in sequence.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Explain how ethical theories and principles influence health care organizational management practice.
  • Identify the ethical principles that guide decision making in health care management.
  • Analyze the ethical dilemmas in health care management.
  • Explain evidence-based strategies to resolve ethical dilemmas in health care.
• Competency 2: Describe how external forces and internal organizational factors influence ethical health care management practices.
  • Describe the external and internal factors that guide health care management practices.
• Competency 3: Examine the role personal moral integrity plays in ethical leadership practice.
  • Explain how personal moral integrity guides ethical decision making in health care management.
• Competency 4: Communicate ideas effectively.
  • Correctly format citations and references using current APA style.
  • Write content clearly and logically, with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.