Ethical Issues Of The Health Care Industry

these doctors to give false prognoses, so that the family would continue to pay them,

According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the Affordable care Act from President Obama gives consumers more options and benefits when seeking coverage from insurance company. It offers lowering cost as well as gets more access to high quality of care. This law creates Patient’s Bill of Rights that is very effective to protect consumers from any abuses or fraud from insurance company. Some preventive services are available to many Americans especially Medicare recipients at no cost. Not just that, they also receive a special offer of 50 percent discount for any well-known drugs in the market place under Medicare named “donut hole.” The Affordable Care Act helps other organizations and programs to convince healthcare providers

(1.1) In the healthcare profession various dilemmas can be encountered, sometimes everyday that put a professional in a position where they must make certain choices that can be classified as difficult or complicated depending on the individual or the situation. In the nursing profession not only do they have to consider the welfare of the patients but they also have to regard their wishes, which may create a conflict of interests in regards to promotion of well-being which would lead to the importance of informed consent. Respect for a person 's autonomy as well as respect for the individual are essential requirements; however so is promoting public interest.

Nurses are constantly challenged by changes which occur in their practice environment and are under the influence of internal or external factors. Due to the increased complexity of the health system, nowadays nurses are faced with ethical and legal decisions and often come across dilemmas regarding patient care. From this perspective a good question to be raised would be whether or not nurses have the necessary background, knowledge and skills to make appropriate legal and ethical decisions. Even though most nursing programs cover the ethical and moral issues in health care, it is questionable if new nurses have the depth of knowledge and understanding of these issues and apply them in their practice

Thank you for your response. You make a great point about the multitude of ethical dilemmas that are present throughout health care. Insurance fraud is a major issue throughout the nation. According to the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association [NHCAA] (2016), there are several types of fraud that occur such as billing for services never rendered, providing unnecessary services, and up-coding. Unfortunately, this is only increasing our health care spending in the United States (NHCAA, 2016). However, the financial burden of health care fraud is only the tip of the iceberg. Fraud leads to increase in premiums, decreases in coverage, and patients that are undergoing unnecessary procedures (NHCAA, 2016). Making health care fraud,

Patients put a lot of trust in their doctors and physicians. We believe that they are trained to diagnose properly. They are scientists who base their predictions on chemical and physical evidence and with years of school and training arrive at a conclusion. However, they are human and can make mistakes. Almost 20% of patients are misdiagnosed. Some are simple and innocuous while others can be life-threatening. The typical behavior for a trained physician who is not sure of their answer is to resist the quick diagnosis and recommend the patient to a specialist or another doctor for a second opinion. Misdiagnosis can lead to incorrect treatments and unneeded surgeries, all the while, putting the patient at risk and missing the opportunity to treat the real disease while allowing the condition to worsen.

The other day, I read a New York Times article titled, “U.S. Charges 412, Including Doctors, in $1.3 Billion Health Fraud.” According to the article, the Department of Justice accused individuals, many of whom were physicians, of participating in illegal acts such as billing Medicare and Medicaid for unpurchased drugs and gratuitously prescribing opiates to addicts. As an aspiring physician, it is disheartening to read such headlines. It is shocking that doctors would resort to exploiting their patients and our health care system. Exorbitant costs already burden the system and we don’t need doctors to compound the problem with their greed.

Two other themes that were mentioned by at least six of out of the thirteen (46%) interviewees were safety and affordability. Although these themes were not as strong in the interviews, they had significant connections to the data in the surveys and community conversations.

This scenario involves multiple ethical issue that is very difficult to be addressed by the health care providers. Since our ultimate goal is to provide optimal care to the patient. Moreover, we care about the entire family dynamic and wellbeing at the same time. I believe it is critical for health care provider to provide a balance between the mother wishes and prioritize the patient best interest by preventing unnecessary harmful procedures. I believe the compromise solution that was reach by the health care provider and the family to have an early Christmas was a great mutual goal. It will facilitate the family coping process and at the same time preserve the patient dignity and comfort.

Community-based services are long-term healthcare provided outside of institutions and are offered in a community environment and/or patient’s home. This encourages a sense of independence while provide the comfort of familiarity for the patient.

“Healthcare professional faces complex ethical dilemmas in the workplace.” (Murray, 2010). There is an expectation that a professional working in a healthcare field demonstrates the highest degree of moral character. A morally courteous person stands up for right things even if it means to do alone. The final goal of demonstrating moral character is to protect ethical value and put ethical principles into action. There are various moral characters which I would like to see in the employees. I would like to see a healthcare professional having characteristics such as professionalism, honesty, kindness and commitment (towards their patient). For a professional working in an acute care facility, demonstrating a high level of all the above four

For the most part, physicians make every effort to work ethically, deliver high-quality medical care to their patients and send relevant claims for disbursement. The general public put their trust in physicians to do the moral thing. The patients depend on physicians to use their expertise to put them on the road to recovery when their health is most vulnerable. The federal government and other third-party payers also rely on physician’s medical decisions to treat and provide services that appropriate for the services that rendered. When the physicians and other medical related facilities submit claims the government expects them to submit physicians and hospitals reimbursing claims for services provided to program recipients, the federal government relies on physicians to submit correct and legitimate claims. The medical providers that are deceitful and exploit the health care system for unlawful purposes have formed the need for laws that combat fraud, abuse and guarantee high-quality medical care.

In an age of modern medicine and advancing medical technology, a persons’ life can be prolonged in even the most tragic and dire of situations. Unfortunately, prolonging life does not always guarantee quality of life, and thus, many ethical and legal issues are introduced. For example, advanced life-sustaining medical technology will allow an individual in a persistent vegetative state to remain alive for decades but with little meaning, dignity or quality.

There are many pressing issues in our health care system. While beginning to place my footsteps in the health care field, I see that today’s health care is drifting away from the ethical morals that are seen in other parts of the world. Health care in America is immoral. We do not take care of the sick. The health care industry’s biggest priority is profit.

This case study is a prime example of a physician abusing his power. To take advantage of a patient displays a lack of ethical and moral values. The case provided involves a physician that is the defendant and the plaintiff who was his patient a 51 year old woman. The plaintiff stated having marital problems early on in treatment, and was also seeking help for problems with communication, family issues and codependency. It was up to this physician to provide her with the care she needed, but instead he carried out a relationship with the patient causing her more emotional anguish.