Developing a code of ethics.

Unique among professional codes of ethics is the Texas & New Mexico Hospice Organization's Code of Ethics. Where other codes concentrate only on principles-based ethics, this new code identifies five models of bioethics currently used in resolving ethical dilemmas. This report's primary purpose analyzes the code's four precepts in the context of (1) principles-based ethics, (2) casuistic-based ethics, (3) covenant-based ethics, (4) evidence-based ethics and narrative-based ethics. The second purpose is to present the practicality of these often esoteric concepts in the day-to-day work of palliative care providers. Indications are that this code of ethics, because of its broad scope, is more useful than other principles-based-only codes.

Ethics, Institutional↗

PubMed1999

Between a rock and a hard place: ethics in managed care and the physician-patient relationship.

At the heart of ethics in medicine is a solid physician-patient relationship. Managed care has operated to undercut this relationship. Rather than blaming managed care, however, one should identify and modify those social and economic forces that pressure managed care organizations (MCOs) to (1) undercut the physician-patient relationship and (2) engage in other unjust or unethical practices. Identifying these pressures does not let managed care off the hook for unethical practices. In fact, MCOs have both an ethical and a practical obligation to help define and support national health care legislation--to help reinvent their role in health care.

Ethics, Institutional↗