Health Care Ethics: Promoting and Maintaining Professionalism

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Table of Contents

Small Gifts and Full Disclosure
Businesses alongside employments
Connection with drugs manufacturers
Recommendations on the way forward
Conclusion
References

Medical facilities are expected to offer high quality, reliable, and affordable medical care services; to attain this noble objective the personnel should uphold ethical behavior when conducting their day to day operations. When professionalism is not adhered to, there are chances of conflict of interest that injures the entire medical care provision system (Cleverly & Cameron, 2007). This paper discusses the three main conflicts of interests that are present in modern health care industry.

Small Gifts and Full Disclosure

At an ideal situation, when conducting scientific research the patients under test or sample patients are given the dosage of test and are expected to report on the outcome without biasness or favors. However when they are on test, they are given numerous benefits which include lunch allowances, attendance fees, favors and good treatments; when this is effected, the reporters may not be objective when giving their views which can result to biasness and inferences made not in the interest of the patients or other sufferers (Heim, 2010).

Businesses alongside employments

In modern capitalist economies, an increasing number of medical practitioners who have medical facilities manned by them indirectly or by other people but they have an interest in them (private hospitals), sometime for the money factor, professional s may be referring patients to their facility. In some cases, the referral may be for the benefit of the patient however, the physician always has some financial benefit from the transaction.

In some cases the professionals do in a very professional manner, they may pose to be advising the patient however, back in their mind they know they have some gains they will get from the entire deal. Another version of the same practice is when a physician is giving services in more than on facility in the form of contract basis. In this case, the physician can be offering better services in the facility that he is getting higher premiums alternatively he may be referring people to the facility that will offer him higher gains.

In the above two scenarios, the physician is using his understanding, exposure and influence to direct the patient to those facilities that will have some financial benefit to him. In extreme cases, the practitioners may be referring patients to their friend’s facilities, an influence from third party that can lead to unethical behavior. The challenge with conflict of interest is the way they are taken since they can be argued that they are meant for mutual benefit of the patient and the professional (Lisi, 2009).

Connection with drugs manufacturers

In the economy, a number of manufacturers can supply some drugs, for example, there are different painkillers in the market. When procuring, physicians may be recommending those manufacturers that they are going to benefit directly or otherwise. This may happen directly at the procurement stage or it can happen indirectly where the practitioner prescribes those medications that come from the company that he is a party.

When this happens, the practitioner looks beyond the needs of quality in the profession but considers what he wants to gain from the deal. The main violated aspect as far as conflict of interest is concerned is the lack of ethical way of practicing; the professionals make decisions with their self-interests at hand; this compromises quality and in most cases raises the cost of medication (Heim, 2010).

Recommendations on the way forward

The above problems vary in their magnitude and they come in different shapes, to eradicate and ensure that they will not reappear; it will call for the participation of different stakeholders over and above the efforts that an individual facility can do.

The main drive to engage in the actions is to have an extra income; with this in mind, the approach that the industry should take is one that assures an increased income on the professionals; salaries and other benefits should be increased. Although human needs for money is insatiable, when the practitioners get high remunerations, chances are that they will not be tempted as such to engage in career threatening practices in the name of looking for extra revenue (Huber, 2006).

Another approach that the industry should embark on is have a body that harmonizes the cost of medication by experts or professionals in different facilities; when such an intervention is made, patients will know the amount they are expected to pay for a certain medical practice. When such an intervention is made, it will make practitioners not refer patients to those places that they will get higher gains (Lisi, 2009).

Conclusion

To promote and maintain professionalism, for ethical behavior should be embarked on; schools need to be more concerned on their syllabus to ensure that they offer the best to their students. After getting the practicing certificate, the registration body should be keen to monitor and ensure that high ethical standards are maintained and those people who seem not comfortable with the standards should be denied the practicing certificate. When professionalism has been observed, then the patients will get quality, effective, and reliable medical care services.

References

Cleverly, W. O., & Cameron, A. E. (2007). Essentials of health care finance. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett.

Heim, L. (2010). Identifying and Addressing Potential Conflict of Interest: A Professional Medical Organization’s Code of Ethics. Annals of Family Medicine, 8(4), 359-361.

Huber, D. (2006). Leadership and nursing care management. Pennsylvania: Saunders Elsevier.

Lisi, A. J. (2009). Managing Conflicts of Interest in Continuing Medical Education: a Comparison of Policies. Journal of Chiropractic Education, 23(1), 36.

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