March
1992
August 1995 (revised)
November 2000 (revised)
November 2005 (revised)
Statement of the Issue
The number and magnitude of challenges facing healthcare
organizations are unprecedented. Growing financial pressures,
rising public and payor expectations and the increasing
number of consolidations have placed hospitals, health networks,
managed care plans and other healthcare organizations under
greater stress—thus potentially intensifying ethical dilemmas.
Now,
more than ever, the healthcare organization must be managed
with consistently high professional and ethical standards.
This means that the executive, acting with other responsible
parties, must foster and support an environment conducive
not only to providing high-quality, cost-effective healthcare,
but also seek to ensure individual ethical behavior and
practices.
Recognizing
the importance of ethics, healthcare executives should
seek various ways to integrate ethical practices and reflection
into the organization’s overall culture. To create such
an ethical environment for all employees, healthcare executives
should: 1.) support the development and implementation
of employee ethical standards of behavior that include
ethical clinical and administrative practices, and 2.)
ensure effective and competent ethics resources exist and
are available to all employees, such as ethics committees
to clarify such standards of behavior when there is ethical
uncertainty. The executive also must support and implement
a systematic and organization-wide approach to ethics training
as well as corporate compliance for all staff.
The
ability of an organization to achieve its full potential
will remain dependent upon the motivation, knowledge, skills
and ethical behavior of its staff. Thus, the executive
has an obligation to accomplish the organization’s mission
in a manner that respects the values of individuals and
maximizes their contributions.
Policy
Position
The
American College of Healthcare Executives believes that
all healthcare executives have an ethical and professional
obligation to employees of the organizations they manage
to create a working environment that supports, but is not
limited to:
-
Reviewing the principles and ideals expressed in vision,
mission and value statements, personnel policies, annual
reports, employee orientation materials, and other documents
to test congruence;
-
The development of an organizational code of ethics
that includes guidelines for all employees' ethical
standards of behavior and practices;
-
Responsible employee ethical behavior and practices
based on the organization’s code of ethics and ethical
standards of practice. Such expectations should be
included in employee position descriptions where relevant;
-
Free expression of ethical concerns;
-
An available ethics resource for discussing and addressing
clinical, organizational and research related ethical
concerns without retribution, such as an ethics committee;
-
Establish an anonymous mechanism that safeguards employees
who wish to raise ethical concerns;
-
Freedom from all harassment, coercion and discrimination;
-
Appropriate use of an employee’s knowledge, skills
and abilities;
-
A safe work environment;
These
responsibilities can best be implemented in an environment
where all employees are encouraged to develop and adhere
to the highest standards of ethics. This should be done
with attention to other features of the code of ethics
and appropriate professional code, particularly those that
stress the moral character of the executive and the organization
itself.
Approved
by the Board of Governors of the American College of
Healthcare Executives on November 7, 2005. |
