Utilizing Community-based Participatory Research Principles in a Safety-Net Hospital to Develop a Research Partnership.

Research at safety-net hospitals may require additional planning to ensure the ethical conduct of research with vulnerable populations. This report discusses application of the principles of community-based participatory research and bioethics to establish a research partnership with a safety-net hospital in the southern U.S.

Hospitals' Obligations to Address Social Determinants of Health.

Federal health care reform has expanded medical insurance to millions of people, altering the role that hospitals play in improving community health. However, current federal and state community benefit policy is an ineffective tool for ensuring that hospitals address the social determinants of health afflicting their communities. Policy shifts and other incentives that promote improved population health outcomes can encourage health care organizations to do the same.

¿Son éticos los objetivos de gestión para los médicos de nuestros hospitales? / Are the management objectives for hospital physicians ethical?

Los objetivos de gestión, en ocasiones, plantean importantes conflictos de valor, hasta el momento poco estudiados. En el presente artículo se analiza qué cuestiones éticas plantean los objetivos operativos de gestión a los médicos que trabajan en hospitales españoles. Estas cuestiones son las siguientes: 1) en el sistema actual se prima la cantidad sobre la calidad, lo que supone una perspectiva de gestión predominantemente economicista; 2) se trata de un sistema jerarquizado, en el que apenas hay participación y en el que los clínicos carecen de capacidad decisoria y 3) los objetivos se centran en actividades desfasadas respecto a la realidad del sistema sanitario actual, por lo que deben ser actualizados considerando, por ejemplo, la cronicidad o la continuidad asistencial. Al analizar estas cuestiones, se realiza una propuesta de elaboración de los objetivos de gestión basada en 3 aspectos: priorizar la calidad asistencial (lo que finalmente repercute en una gestión eficiente), elaborar los objetivos de forma participativa y mixta (con objetivos colectivos e individuales) y diseñar nuevos objetivos acordes con la realidad del actual sistema sanitario. No es complicado poner en práctica esta propuesta, ya que la meta final de los clínicos y de la gerencia es la de proporcionar una asistencia sanitaria óptima

Management objectives at times create significant value conflicts that have so far been seldom studied. This article analyses the ethical issues created by the operational objectives of management for physicians who work in Spanish hospitals. These issues are as follows: 1) the current system places quantity above quality, which represents a predominantly economist management perspective; 2) the system is hierarchical, lacks participation and deprives clinicians of decision-making authority; 3) the objectives are focused on outdated activities in terms of the current reality of the healthcare system and should therefore be updated considering, for example, chronicity and the continuity of care. After analysing these issues, we created a proposal for developing management objectives based on prioritising quality care (which ultimately results in efficient management), developing objectives in a participatory and mixed manner (with group and individual objectives) and designing new objectives in keeping with the current reality of the healthcare system. Putting this proposal into practice is not complicated because the final goal of clinicians and management is to provide optimal health care

La ética y los objetivos de gestión / Ethics and management objectives

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Pursuing reflective equilibrium when hospital patients smoke.

Questions about smoking policies in hospitals, and how exactly to implement them, have been difficult to answer for many years. Policy-makers must consider a tangled web of personal versus public goods. Administrators often have to creatively decide how policies can best be adopted at their particular site. Clinicians and hospital staff must then implement those policies, often compelling them to consider whether a slight violation might be in a particular patient's interest, and then whether to assist in the violation or not, and whether to share their decisions with colleagues. Getting such questions right can have important consequences for the wellbeing of patients, administrators, and clinicians alike, so a careful balancing of the issues is warranted.

Where Hospital Boards Often Fail: Auditing Leadership Performance.

Hospital boards address quality of care and patient safety as well as financial performance through long-accepted practices. By contrast, a hospital's administrative operations and institutional culture are not usually subject to such detailed scrutiny. Yet, despite a healthy bottom line and patient commendations, hospital personnel can be underperforming, burdened with poor morale, and suffering from less-than-optimal leadership, unwarranted inefficiency, and ethically questionable management practices. The resulting employee dissatisfaction or disengagement can affect productivity, quality, turnover, innovation, patient and donor attraction and retention, public image, etc., and can be missed by an unsuspecting board. While boards do not scrutinize most administrative operations, they do examine financial performance, through review of the independent auditor's Management Letter. Designed to help the chief financial officer (CFO) improve the efficiency and integrity of the hospital's financial systems and to recommend improvements to the board for implementation (rather than to assess the CFO's performance), the Management Letter has no equal with respect to a comparable evaluation of the hospital's administrative performance and workplace culture. When, as is often the case, there is only superficial review of the chief executive officer, the board has no source of analysis or recommendations to improve the hospital's institutional environment. In this Invited Commentary, the authors suggest a methodology to provide such a review, leading to a Leadership Letter, and discuss its utility for both nonprofit and for-profit organizations.

Aspectos críticos contextuales de un hospital de alta complejidad / Critical contextual aspects of a highly complex hospital / Aspectos críticos contextuais de um hospital de alta complexidade

Este artículo presenta los resultados parciales de un análisis FODA realizado en el Instituto Nacional del Tórax, con el fin de generar información sobre los aspectos críticos que afectan la gestión estratégica de un hospital público de alta complejidad, y abrir una reflexión ética sobre tales procesos. Para su determinación se usaron focus group, entrevistas en profundidad, propuestas por el equipo Directivo del Hospital y discusiones en torno al ámbito contextual. Las entrevistas individuales y grupales tuvieron una duración de una hora y veinte minutos aproximadamente y se realizaron en dependencias del hospital. La conceptualización de los datos, se hizo desde la Teoría Fundamentada. El estudio muestra, de acuerdo con la percepción de los entrevistados, que hay aspectos contextuales, tales como reglas del juego, stakeholders y cultura país, cuya tensión ética con la organización, afectan el quehacer del Instituto Nacional del Tórax, en cuanto hospital público de alta complejidad.

This article presents the partial results of a SWOT analysis at the National Chest Institute, in order to generate information on critical issues affecting the strategic management of a public hospital of high complexity, and open an ethical reflection on such processes. For their determination were used: focus groups, interviews, proposed by the management team of the Hospital and discussions on the contextual level. The Individual and group interviews lasted about an hour and twenty minutes and were performed at hospital units. The conceptualization of the data was made from Grounded Theory. The study shows, according to the perception of the interviewees, their contextual issues such as rules, stakeholders and cultural country, whose ethical tension with the organization, affect the work of the National Chest Institute as a high complexity public hospital.

objetivo: Este artigo apresenta resultados parciais de uma análise FOFA realizada no Instituto Nacional de Tórax do Chile, com a finalidade de gerar informações sobre os aspectos críticos que afetam a gestão estratégica de um hospital público de alta complexidade, e gerar uma reflexão ética sobre tais processos. Método: para sua determinação fora utilizado o focus group, entrevistas em profundidade propostas pela equipe de gestão do hospital e discussões acerca do escopo contextual. A conceitualização dos dados, foi feita a partir da Teoria Fundamentada. Conclusões: o estudo demonstra que, de acordo com a percepção dos entrevistados, há aspectos contextuais, tais como as regras do jogo, stakeholders e a cultura do país, cuja tensão ética com a organização afetam o trabalho do Instituto Nacional do tórax, enquanto hospital público de alta complexidade.

Measuring value sensitivity in medicine.

BACKGROUND: Value sensitivity - the ability to recognize value-related issues when they arise in practice - is an indispensable competence for medical practitioners to enter decision-making processes related to ethical questions. However, the psychological competence of value sensitivity is seldom an explicit subject in the training of medical professionals. In this contribution, we outline the traditional concept of moral sensitivity in medicine and its revised form conceptualized as value sensitivity and we propose an instrument that measures value sensitivity. METHODS: We developed an instrument for assessing the sensitivity for three value groups (moral-related values, values related to the principles of biomedical ethics, strategy-related values) in a four step procedure: 1) value identification (n = 317); 2) value representation (n = 317); 3) vignette construction and quality evaluation (n = 37); and 4) instrument validation by comparing nursing professionals with hospital managers (n = 48). RESULTS: We find that nursing professionals recognize and ascribe importance to principle-related issues more than professionals from hospital management. The latter are more likely to recognize and ascribe importance to strategy-related issues. CONCLUSIONS: These hypothesis-driven results demonstrate the discriminatory power of our newly developed instrument, which makes it useful not only for health care professionals in practice but for students and people working in the clinical context as well.

Investigating motivating factors for sound hospital waste management.

UNLABELLED: Sustainable management of hospital waste requires an active involvement of all key players. This study aims to test the hypothesis that three motivating factors, namely, Reputation, Liability, and Expense, influence hospital waste management. The survey for this study was conducted in two phases, with the pilot study used for exploratory factor analysis and the subsequent main survey used for cross-validation using confirmatory factor analysis. The hypotheses were validated through one-sample t tests. Correlations were established between the three motivating factors and organizational characteristics of hospital type, location, category, and size. The hypotheses were validated, and it was found that the factors of Liability and Expense varied considerably with respect to location and size of a hospital. The factor of Reputation, however, did not exhibit significant variation. In conclusion, concerns about the reputation of a facility and an apprehension of liability act as incentives for sound hospital waste management, whereas concerns about financial costs and perceived overburden on staff act as disincentives. IMPLICATIONS: This paper identifies the non economic motivating factors that can be used to encourage behavioral changes regarding waste management at hospitals in resource constrained environments. This study discovered that organizational characteristics such as hospital size and location cause the responses to vary among the subjects. Hence a policy maker must take into account the institutional setting before introducing a change geared towards better waste management outcomes across hospitals. This study covers a topic that has hitherto been neglected in resource constrained countries. Thus it can be used as one of the first steps to highlight and tackle the issue.

Organización de las unidades de cefalea desde un punto de vista multidisciplinar / Organisation of headache units from a multidisciplinary point of view

Las unidades de cefaleas surgen ante la necesidad de abordar de forma multidisciplinar el tratamiento de pacientes con dolores de cabeza complejos. A pesar de que las cefaleas son una de las patologías médicas más prevalentes, es llamativa la poca promoción que existe para su desarrollo. Dentro de la organización multidisciplinar, el papel del neurólogo debidamente formado en este campo es crucial. Es la persona encargada de recibir, dirigir, supervisar y coordinar el tratamiento, junto con otras especialidades médicas. Se debe contar con la participación del psiquiatra, del psicólogo y del fisioterapeuta como núcleo básico. Su actuación conjunta y coordinada genera de forma objetiva una mejoría del dolor frente a cada tratamiento de forma aislada (AU)

Headache units have come into being to respond to the need to address the treatment of patients with complex headaches in a multidisciplinary manner. Although headaches are one of the most prevalent medical pathologies, it is surprising how little is being done to foster the development of such units. Within the multidisciplinary organisation, the role of the neurologist with adequate training in this field is essential. He or she is the person responsible for receiving, directing, supervising and coordinating the treatment, together with other medical specialties. The basic core of the team should consist of a psychiatrist, psychologist and physiotherapist. Their joint coordinated action generates an objective improvement in the pain over and beyond that achieved with each isolated treatment (AU)

Culture, compassion and clinical neglect: probity in the NHS after Mid Staffordshire.

Speaking of the public response to the deaths of children at the Bristol Royal Infirmary before 2001, the BMJ commented that the NHS would be 'all changed, changed utterly'. Today, two inquiries into the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust suggest nothing changed at all. Many patients died as a result of their care and the stories of indifference and neglect there are harrowing. Yet Bristol and Mid Staffordshire are not isolated reports. In 2011, the Health Services Ombudsman reported on the care of elderly and frail patients in the NHS and found a failure to recognise their humanity and individuality and to respond to them with sensitivity, compassion and professionalism. Likewise, the Care Quality Commission and Healthcare Commission received complaints from patients and relatives about the quality of nursing care. These included patients not being fed, patients left in soiled bedding, poor hygiene practices, and general disregard for privacy and dignity. Why is there such tolerance of poor clinical standards? We need a better understanding of the circumstances that can lead to these outcomes and how best to respond to them. We discuss the findings of these and other reports and consider whether attention should be devoted to managing individual behaviour, or focus on the systemic influences which predispose hospital staff to behave in this way. Lastly, we consider whether we should look further afield to cognitive psychology to better understand how clinicians and managers make decisions?

[Healthcare occupations are "different"]. / Gesundheitsberufe sind "anders"

Healthcare requires careful coordination of several occupations. In order to attain the best possible result, including effectiveness and cost-efficiency, the specific expertise of each of these occupations must be clearly defined. Healthcare occupations, physicians and nurses, are indeed professions as opposed to mere "jobs". They are concerned with living but ill human beings and not with things. Reliance on a personal capacity of judgment is a decisive aspect of professions. Healthcare professionals perform best if they are granted specific independence relative to their work.

Building an ethical organizational culture.

The success of a health care institution-as defined by delivering high-quality, high-value care, positive patient outcomes, and financial solvency-is inextricably tied to the culture within that organization. The ability to achieve and sustain alignment between its mission, values, and everyday practices defines a positive organizational culture. An institution that has a diminished organizational culture, reflected in the failure to consistently align management and clinical decisions and practices with its mission and values, will struggle. The presence of misalignment or of ethics gaps affects the quality of care being delivered, the morale of the staff, and the organization's image in the community. Transforming an organizational culture will provide a foundation for success and a framework for daily ethics-grounded operations in any organization. However, building an ethics-grounded organization is a challenging process requiring strong organization leadership and planning. Using a case study, the authors provide a multiyear, continuous step-by-step strategy consisting of identifying ethics culture gaps, establishing an ethics taskforce, clarifying and prioritizing the problems, developing strategy for change, implementing the strategy, and evaluating outcomes. This process will assist organizations in aligning its actions with its mission and values, to find success on all fronts.

Moral dilemmas faced by hospitals in time of war: the Rambam Medical Center during the second Lebanon war.

Rambam Medical Center, the only tertiary care center and largest hospital in northern Israel, was subjected to continuous rocket attacks in 2006. This extreme situation posed serious and unprecedented ethical dilemmas to the hospital management. An ambiguous situation arose that required routine patient care in a tertiary modern hospital together with implementation of emergency measures while under direct fire. The physicians responsible for hospital management at that time share some of the moral dilemmas faced, the policy they chose to follow, and offer a retrospective critical reflection in this paper. The hospital's first priority was defined as delivery of emergency surgical and medical services to the wounded from the battlefields and home front, while concomitantly providing the civilian population with all elective medical and surgical services. The need for acute medical service was even more apparent as the situation of conflict led to closure of many ambulatory clinics, while urgent or planned medical care such as open heart surgery and chemotherapy continued. The hospital management took actions to minimize risks to patients, staff, and visitors during the ongoing attacks. Wards were relocated to unused underground spaces and corridors. However due to the shortage of shielded spaces, not all wards and patients could be relocated to safer areas. Modern warfare will most likely continue to involve civilian populations and institutes, blurring the division between peaceful high-tech medicine and the rough battlefront. Hospitals in high war-risk areas must be prepared to function and deliver treatment while under fire or facing similar threats.

Social responsibility: a new paradigm of hospital governance?

Changes in modern societies originate the perception that ethical behaviour is essential in organization's practices especially in the way they deal with aspects such as human rights. These issues are usually under the umbrella of the concept of social responsibility. Recently the Report of the International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO on Social Responsibility and Health has addressed this concept of social responsibility in the context of health care delivery suggesting a new paradigm in hospital governance. The objective of this paper is to address the issue of corporate social responsibility in health care, namely in the hospital setting, emphasising the special governance arrangements of such complex organisations and to evaluate if new models of hospital management (entrepreneurism) will need robust mechanisms of corporate governance to fulfil its social responsiveness. The scope of this responsible behaviour requires hospitals to fulfil its social and market objectives, in accordance to the law and general ethical standards. Social responsibility includes aspects like abstention of harm to the environment or the protection of the interests of all the stakeholders enrolled in the deliverance of health care. In conclusion, adequate corporate governance and corporate strategy are the gold standard of social responsibility. In a competitive market hospital governance will be optimised if the organization culture is reframed to meet stakeholders' demands for unequivocal assurances on ethical behaviour. Health care organizations should abide to this new governance approach that is to create organisation value through performance, conformance and responsibility.