The Hippocratic Oath Essay

On paper, the merger between these two institutions made sense – both institutions were close to one another and competing for diminishing resources. Together they could reduce administrative costs and join forces to negotiate with large insurance companies. The need to create a new culture and dissolve historically existent power struggles were two large tasks that needed to be addressed in order to ensure a successful merger. However, the way in which the merger was organized did not lead to a successful merger. UCSF Health Care did not spend adequate time creating a shared culture in which the two organizations would see one joint organization with shared power (resources).

Founded in 1946, Seattle’s Group Health Cooperative was created by doctors and community members who believed that there needed to be a health care program that was affordable, member centered, and held principles of social justice. This cooperative was one that had been successful for many years, but just recently was acquired by the not for profit Kaiser Permanente health-care company on February 1, 2017 for 1.8 billion dollars. Although Group Health is a cooperative and Kaiser Permanente is a nonprofit healthcare company, they have similar views on how they run their companies because both have missions to put their members and employees first. This is something that the articles stressed because this merge is going to affect thousands of members and employees. I plan on focusing on the process Kaiser Permanente had when wanting to take over Group Health Cooperative, the pros and cons of the final decision to merge the two healthcare programs, and ultimately how Group Health’s marketing and management strategies will be implemented in the merge. (12)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is based on the story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman who died of cervical cancer. It was during the time when race was still a big factor in the United States and the principle of medical ethical was in its early stages. One of the main themes of this book surrounded around the ethical issue of informed consent. During an operation to remove the cancerous tumor from Henrietta Lacks, Dr. George Gey took a sample of cancerous tissue from cervix without her consent. Also, her family was not informed of the sample that was taken out from Henrietta and it was years before they found out about the fate of their mother’s cells. The cell that was extracted from Henrietta, known as

Throughout the history of medicine there has always been a need for shared commitment to ideals of moral, ethical and humane practice. The Hippocratic Oath, created by a compilation of works largely based on Hippocrates, has always stood as guidelines for the conduct of physicians. The Classical oath has and continues to serve well in preserving the sanctity of the medical profession while developing a basis for the respectful treatment of patients. However, this out-dated oath is not equipped to handle the modern trials and tribulations faced by physicians and health care in general. Many of its principles are simply unrealistic and inapplicable in today’s society. For this reason a revised version of the oath was written. As I will

Medicine is a science of healing, but also an art. It takes intelligence in the sciences as well as precise skill in the art of medicine to heal successfully. In the Hippocratic Oath, Hippocrates highlights the importance of passing on the tradition of practicing medicine, maintaining respect for patients, and preserving humility within themselves. Modern day practice of this oath involve patient’s stories. Rita Charon in her article “What to do with Stories? The sciences of Narrative Medicine,” explores narrative writing and how to use it as a tool in healing patients. While Charon focuses on the writing of these stories, Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal reflects on how to make more meaningful endings out of the stories of patients who

Hospitals implement HCAHPS with the support of the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA), a public or private partnership that includes key hospital and medical associations, consumer groups, measurement and accrediting bodies and government agencies that have the same interest in improving the quality of hospitals. The Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) program that is overseen by and public and private entities, that include the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as well as the Joint Commission, is dominating this effort in the hospital district, generating reports quarterly on the delivery of effective services for mutual conditions. Even though the Hospital Quality Alliance has made this data more available to the public, there has not been enough information on the quality of hospital care from a patients ' point of view. As the Institute of Medicine shows, the foundation of patient centered care is a key factor to having a premium health care system. The HQA backs HCAHPS.

Some hospitals have merged with other healthcare organizations in hopes of providing a more integrated delivery system. However, delivery in many organizations is still quite fragmented leaving many US citizens dissatisfied. According to a 2011 survey conducted by the Commonwealth Fund;

Our healthcare system needs major restructuring. Major improvements needs to begin with "all health care organizations, professional groups, and private and public purchasers should adopt as their explicit purpose to continually reduce the burden of illness, injury, and disability, and to improve the health and functioning of the people of the United States", (Crossing the ……, 2001).

In the article “The Hippocratic Oath of the Manger: Good or Bad Idea? ” Sean Jasso suggests that a manager is not necessary requires a professional license to practice management neither takes oaths. However, he believes that it is normal for medical doctors, lawyers, and CPAs to take the oath. The idea about whether the Hippocratic oath of manager is good or bad still stay controversial because some believe that having a professional license to practice management will minimize the failure in business. On the other side, some believes that as long as manager produce effective result within the rule of law then oath is irrelevant or not helpful. For example, Harvard Business School Scholars takes the “MBA Oath”, which was inspired by the professor Rakesh Khurana and Nitin Nohria. The example of Harvard School of Business shows readers that the business crisis could be prevent or improve by turning management to a profession like law and medicine because these professions have to take oath: not to do harm to the society and people. Although Rakesh Khurana and Nitin Nohria’s ideas of “MBA Oath” is noble, Jasso believes that it is not realistic in our society.

The Coalition is an umbrella organization. Its members include nearly 90 of America’s largest and leading associations of health care providers; businesses and unions; consumer and patient advocacy groups; pension and health funds; religious denominations; and health plans. NHCH was formed 1990 to help achieve comprehensive health system change to improve

Unfortunately, a lot of things went wrong in the UCSF and Stanford merger which ultimately cost them tens of millions of dollars. For instance, they were projected to save almost $300 million by 2020, when in reality they lost almost $90 million in two years’ time. It didn’t help that reimbursement rates were down at the time and patients were starting to move to lower paying plans. One notable problem from the start was that USHC continued to hire and ended up with 1000 new employees. Additionally, the IT costs for the year 2000 were astronomical to say the least, and the merger expenses were double than what

“If you don’t have integrity, you have nothing. You can’t buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing”. –Henry Kravis - The American healthcare system delivers some of the finest care in the world. However, despite the high level of achievement delivered from the American healthcare system, it is afflicted with problems. Ethical issues that occur in the healthcare delivery system are indeed common. Almost every decision that is made in a healthcare organization has ethical implications. These ethical implications are towards the patient, provider and the leader of the organization. Ethics tend to determine which actions will contribute to an individual fulfillment of happiness. Ethics are very powerful and tend to presuppose freedom and responsibility in the organization. In my current place of employment the care of patients is integrated with medical research, which in return allows for the healthcare practices to continuously be studied and improved. As a healthcare leader or worker, decisions will be made when the common good of both the patients and organization must be taken into consideration. As an effective healthcare leader one must practice adhering to the ethical standards and codes of conduct for his or her individual place of employment. According to Rae (2009), there are 7 steps in making moral decisions. The seven

The “Right to Die” (Euthanasia) should be further looked into as an option for terminally ill patients and not considered unethical. There has been an issue concerning the topic of “Human Euthanasia” as an acceptable action in society. The research compiled in conjunction with an educated opinion will be the basis for the argument for voluntary Euthanasia in this paper. Patients suffering from an incurable illness, exhausting all medical treatments, should be given the freedom of choice to continue their path of suffering or end it at their own will. “The Right to die” is not suicide, as you are fully aware that death will be certain, as Euthanasia spares the individual of additional pain.

Somerville, M. H., Seeff, L., Hale, D., & O'Brien, D. J. (2015). Hospitals, collaboration, and community health improvement. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 43(1), 56-59. doi:10.1111/jlme.12217

The significance of community hospitals such as Community Hospital in Monmouth County, New Jersey, is greater than one may expect for primary and secondary care services provided to the local communities around the United States. Community Hospital’s mission is to provide exceptional primary care. However, with the declination of profitability in primary care, Community Hospital has had to compete with Shore University Medical Center (SUMC) and University Hospital (UH) for revenue restoration. The decline of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and the steady progression toward specialty care vs. primary care require a core alteration to the mission statement to adjust to the changes within the current healthcare system. A newly modified mission and vision statement will prove that Community Hospital has the ability to regain its relevance within the healthcare industry as a leading primary care provider in the community and increase its revenue. The implementation of the new mission and vision for Community Hospital is expected to be upheld without compromising the core values of compassion, advancement, reputation, efficiency, and physician integration. A few proposed strategies to help Community Hospital create a new and improved business model, may seem cumbersome and challenging, however could greatly improve the overall direction of Community Hospital.