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The primary ethical consideration when approaching families for organ donation is to ensure that the donation authorization process is voluntary and that it respects the wishes of those who want to donate.
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The quality of palliative care training in critical care medicine programs and the use of bedside tools were independently associated with reduced intensive care unit (ICU) use at the end of life.
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Bundled payments aim to contain healthcare costs, but some say this new payment model has the potential to incentivize undertreatment.
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In light of multiple recent studies linking feeding tubes in patients with advanced dementia with numerous treatment burdens and complications, the American Geriatrics Society released an updated position statement in July 2014 on this practice.
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Physicians or other healthcare professionals occasionally try to impede ethical discussions for a variety of reasons.
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Poor communication between providers and the patient or family is the underlying reason for many ethics consults involving conflicts over end-of-life care.
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Ethical concerns involving prevention and treatment of Ebola mirror those surrounding other public health threats in developing countries.
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There is no evidence that a policy empowering physicians not to offer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is disproportionately applied to vulnerable populations, according to a recent study.
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"Throughout our health care system, VA patients and staff face difficult and potentially life-altering decisions every day whether it be in clinics, in cubicles, or in council meetings. In the day-to-day business of health care, uncertainty or conflicts about values that is, ethical concerns inevitably arise." IntegratedEthics: Improving Ethics Quality in Health Care (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs monograph)
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A palliative care program can save hospitals an average of at least $279 per day, up to $374 per day, according to a study of eight hospitals by the Center to Advance Palliative Care and the National Palliative Care Research Center.