Ethics in Healthcare Management

Healthcare organizations and associations set and strive to maintain ethical standards to ensure dignity and high quality of care within the medical profession. However, these standards can be challenging to uphold in practice due to the ethically-complex situations which often confront healthcare managers as well as the organization of structures and goals for ethical decision-making within healthcare organizations.

ACHE Code of Ethics

• The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), an international professional society of healthcare executives, maintains the "ACHE Code of Ethics," which sets standards of ethical behavior for healthcare executives in their professional relationships and with patients. Per the ACHE Code of Ethics, healthcare managers should "conduct professional activities with honesty, integrity, respect, fairness and good faith in a manner that will reflect well upon the profession."

Case Studies in Healthcare Management Ethics

• Frankie Perry, author of "The Tracks We Leave: Business Ethics in Healthcare Management," says that healthcare managers are often confronted with complex and morally ambiguous situations. According to a review of "The Tracks We Leave" published in the journal, "Health Progress," Perry analyzes real-life case studies to offer ethical guidance pertaining to five morally-complex topics in healthcare management: medical errors, conflicts of interest, gender discrimination, physician impairment, and workforce reduction.

Structures and Goals

• According to an American Medical Association report, "Organizational Ethics in Healthcare," in order to improve managerial ethics in healthcare, more focus should be placed on the structures of ethical decision-making within organizations and the ethical goals of healthcare organizations. Enhanced focus on structures and goals within healthcare organizations should ensure greater ethical accountability among healthcare managers.