The Business of Senior Care

Imagine you have been appointed Administrator of one of the most prestigious cancer centers in the world, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. It is the largest and oldest cancer treatment and research center in the country. It has been your dream to one day become the leader of that hospital. This hospital has had historic and amazing advancements in the healthcare field, including development of radiation therapy for cancer patients, the first fellowship program funded by the Rockefeller’s, and the development of various cancer drugs and treatment that have saved countless lives. Life is great and everything appears to be going wonderfully.

About six months into your tenure as Administrator of the hospital, a staff member comes to your office. The staff member is concerned about one of the hospital immunologists who has been conducting extensive research on cancer immunotherapy programs for patients. This staff member says that there is groundbreaking research being done and she thinks that many lives will be saved because of the work. But, the staff member doesn’t think that the patients in the research study know that the doctor is injecting them with cancer cells.

As the Administrator of the most prestigious cancer research hospital in the country this type of information is concerning. There are a mixture of emotions.  You have many questions that you’re not sure you want the answers. Are we really injecting cancer cells into patients without consent? Did the doctor get the approval of the previous administrator? What do I do now?  Is this acceptable ethical practice at this hospital? What happens if someone outside the hospital finds out this is happening? What impact will this have on the hospital? Or your new job that you’ve wanted for so long?

This example actually did happen in the mid-1950s to mid-1960s. A physician, Chester Southam, was injecting patients with cancer cells without consent at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. It wasn’t the hospital administrator who blew the whistle and in fact this research went on for years at the hospital. Finally, a group of doctors from a fellow research hospital reported this physician to the Regents of the University and the State of New York. Dr. Southam was found guilty of fraud, deceit and unprofessional conduct and discontinued the research.

Ethical questions arise every day in the healthcare industry. As leaders in healthcare we work with complex patients who have complicated issues. Questions could include things like which family or friends can discuss a patient’s medical care, what decisions are a person with dementia able to make and not, should patients with different insurance payors receive different levels of treatment, does an affluent patient have more say in how they receive care, etc.

For your agency, it’s important to provide a framework that aids in making ethical decisions. A framework will help you to have a consistent process any time you are faced with these important ethical conflicts. But, you have a million and one things that you need to deal with for your agency and researching medical ethics theory and developing ethics policies has not entered your stratosphere.

I am offering you, as the leader of your healthcare organization, a course in the ethics of healthcare. This Ethics in Healthcare online course is a Health Department approved training on the topic of ethics in the healthcare industry.

This training will provide an in-depth look at the origins of ethics and how it is has evolved over time. We review the foundational principles of ethics in healthcare and discuss real world examples of each principle. We also discuss the role of the healthcare leader in todays climate. This includes providing a framework for your agency to create/update your code of ethics and ethics decision making process.

This training satisfies 1 CLOCK HOUR towards the annual required training for Administrators.  A completion certificate will be available for download upon completion of the course. 

What is covered in this course? 

This course is divided up into 3 parts. The first part is the Digital Downloads section. In this Digital Downloads section there are helpful guides, documents and policies that you can utilize for your agency related to ethics in healthcare. In addition, there are 2 Modules of content in this course providing detailed information about principles and actionable strategies for your agency.

In order to complete the course, you must complete each of the modules along with a Quiz at the end of each module. This online course is available 24/7 and you can start, pause and return to where you left in the course at any time.

Digital Downloads! - This part contains helpful downloadable documents for your agency. 

Ethics in Healthcare Outline – 1 Clock Hour - This document provides the course outline on the content covered. This document should be downloaded, along with the Course Completion Certificate, and included in the trainee personnel file to show proof of the completed training.

CDPHE Training Requirements - Quick Reference Guide -This document outlines the CDPHE required training for Administrators & Agency Managers. It provides the specific number of hours needed and the topics that are needed in order to satisfy the annual requirements for training. 

Examples of Company Code of Ethics – This document provides examples of some well-known healthcare organizations in the nation. Your agency can utilize these examples to create/edit your agency code of ethics or ethics policies.

Ethical Decision Making Guidelines – This document provides a specific framework that your agency can adopt when making difficult ethical decisions. This step-by-step process ensures you will make an informed and thoughtful decision with any needed parties to the decision.

Ethics Agency Self-Assessment – This document provides a look at the current state of ethical decision making at your agency. By completing this assessment, you can evaluate the areas that need firmer process improvement or increased discussion.

Ethics in Healthcare - Course Overview

Module 1 – 4 Principles of Healthcare Ethics

      Respect for Autonomy 

      Beneficence 

      Non-maleficence

      Justice

Module 2 – Role of Ethics for Healthcare Leaders     

      Healthcare Industry

      Ethical Dilemmas

      Agency Level