Medical Ethics Advisor
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Some Consults Specifically Address Moral Distress
A Virginia-based health system has learned much about moral distress and why it is important to recognize and intervene. -
Billing, Disparities Now Part of Hospital Surveys
The Leapfrog Group wants to see hospitals ensuring bias is not undermining the quality of care delivered to particular patients. From a billing standpoint, fear of costs prevents some from seeking needed care. -
Revised Ethics Recommendations on Cardiology Care Reflect 2021 Priorities
Leading cardiology groups lend new insights on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. -
Updated Guidance on Health Equity Movement
Three recent reports explain how the healthcare industry can improve diversity and inclusion. -
Effective Remote Communication Improves End-of-Life Care
Even in the post-COVID-19 era, the remote communication techniques that were an invention of necessity during the pandemic likely will remain.
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Poor Agreement Between ED Patients and Physicians on Goals of Care
Ideally, goals of care discussions do not happen for the first time when the patient presents to the ED. When goals of care conversations are held earlier in a patient’s disease course, advance care planning is possible. This can alleviate the use of aggressive interventions in the event the patient decompensates or does not make a meaningful recovery.
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Evolving Efforts to Integrate Critical Care and Palliative Care
Palliative care should be integrated into serious illness care at any point following diagnosis. This can happen in conjunction with curative treatment, or as a standalone intervention focused on comfort at the end of life.
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New Data on Pediatric Clinical Ethics Consults
Pediatric cases involve, at a minimum, three stakeholders: The patient, the parents, and the healthcare team. This decision-making triad can lead to a multitude of ethical quandaries.
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Ethicists Challenged to Respond to Physicians’ Inappropriate Behavior
If a physician yells at a nurse or patient because of a disagreement over the treatment plan, involvement by human resources or another department is needed. But if a physician’s belligerence or disrespect affects someone’s decision-making, that is an ethical problem.
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Clinicians Reveal Why They Never Request Ethics Consults
Some clinicians request an ethics consult once, but never again. Others never call ethics a single time in their entire careers. Ethicists are left to wonder why.