If a healthcare facility, practice, clinic, hospital or most any medical entity wanted to create a medical ethics program from scratch, what might be the most important components? As a medical ethics keynote speaker and medical ethics consultant, I can point to any number of important components a solid program might have. Let me review my top 7 components.
Creating a Medical Ethics program for a new era: 7 Components
- The Group Buy-In. Whether it is to be called the Ethics Board, Ethics Committee or Ethics Oversite Group, set up this task force as the initial working group. By all means make it as cross-functional as possible, including those from all aspects of the organization. They should distill employee feedback about goals, tendencies and trends, with special emphasis on the daily pressures placed on employees to violate an ethical standard.
- Main contact. There must be someone designated by the board as the ethics officer. The chief task of this person is to track the ethical values, code of conduct and communication of the organization. The ethics officer can be rotated on an annual or shorter time basis. In the case of a small organization the ethics officer can also function in a communications strategy. If a large healthcare organization, the ethics board can appoint a communications officer.
- Vision of Ethical Behavior. What is the vision the committee or board sees for the ethical behavior of the organization? What is included in this vision. How does the ethics committee visualize the ethical mission of the organization. Along with organizationally-wide input and comments, the vision of ethical behavior should lead to a values statement. The values statement is the ethical standard for the organization.
- The code of ethics. All of the steps above should lead to the code of ethics. The code sets expectations of everyone and in that context, the code will track deviations from the standard. Everyone in the healthcare organization must adhere to – and sign off on the ethical code.
- Ethics training and reinforcement. Obviously, new employees join and situations always occur and “filter-through” organizations. For this reason, there must be periodic ethics training based on the code of ethics, and a stream of communication from the committee to alert the organization to violations, challenges and, of course, praise for highly ethical behavior.
- Confidentiality. A system must be put into place to allow for anonymous complaints in regard to ethical violations and clarity in regard to policy. The confidentiality aspect cannot be emphasized enough.
- How do we measure? How is the effectiveness of the entire ethics policy measured? What are parameters? How does a healthcare facility know that its ethical efforts have worked? What is the process of evaluation?
Everyone must step-up
As a medical ethics keynote speaker and medical ethics consultant, I know that whether I listed seven components of an ethics program or one-hundred-seven, without ethical leadership, the program cannot be successful, it cannot possibly thrive.
It is ironic that I would use the word “Hypocrisy” in talking about medical ethics, but unless there in buy-in and adherence from the top down, there can be no success. It does no good if executive leadership commits unethical actions while everyone else is forced to comply.
Creating a Medical Ethics program for a new era requires everyone to take part. It must be an ironclad agreement that is shared and celebrated by everyone.
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