1: Explain how ethical theories and principles influence health care organizational management practice.
Describe the risks and the associated ethical challenges for a health care organization related to not making changes.
Competency 2: Describe how external forces and internal organizational factors influence ethical health care management practices.
Explain the external forces that influence change in a health care organization.
Explain the ethical considerations that influence change in a health care organization.
Explain how change benefits and ensures ethical integrity for a health care organization, its employees, and its patients.
Sample Solution
Ethical theories and principles provide a framework for healthcare organizations to consider when making decisions that impact their operations. Healthcare management is tasked with providing quality care while working within the limits of ethical standard, applicable laws, and organizational mission statement. The most commonly used ethical frameworks in healthcare are utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, justice theory, and nonmaleficence. Utilitarianism looks at an action's outcome as it relates to overall benefit or harm; deontology focuses on following moral obligations; virtue ethics encourages moral behavior based on virtues; justice theory enforces equity between groups; and nonmaleficence promotes doing no harm through prevention or intervention. These core elements inform the way healthcare administrators develop policies and practices to make sure they are ethically sound while also meeting their organizational objectives.