Medical Error Disclosure: Ethical Dilemma Essay
Despite the impressive breakthrough that medicine has witnessed over the 20th–21st centuries and especially in the past few decades (Gallagher et al. 1752), the possibility of a medical error remains a topical issue (Hannawa et al. 320). Coupled with the non-disclosure policies of a hospital, the issue, when revealed to a provider of the patient or any other person concerned, often poses a dilemma. Particularly, the need to warn the patient and the likelihood of legal repercussions, including a lawsuit (Ghalandarpoorattar et al. 2), which the patient is enabled to file because of the poor service quality, deserve to be brought up.Medical Error Disclosure: Ethical Dilemma Essay
Justification
The topic in question was chosen due to the obvious conflict between the interests of the patient and the population, in general, which medical ethics supposedly protects, and the interests of the provider, who is threatened by legal ramifications in the case in point (Raemer et al. 3). In other words, the identified inconsistency between the rights of an individual and the concerns of the hospital staff needs to be addressed.Medical Error Disclosure: Ethical Dilemma Essay
On a larger scale, the specified issue affects the society, as the contemporary information technology gives ample opportunities for whistleblowing and exposing the lack of social justice in the current U.S. healthcare system. Moreover, the threats that the people shedding light on medical errors are subjected to and the choices that they are forced to make begs the question whether the current concept of information management concerning medical errors can be viewed as destructive to the very fabric of the U.S. society (Adwok and Kearns 31).
Therefore, the problem under analysis affects both individuals and the society. Consequently, the avenues, which individuals, the society, and healthcare facilities need to take in order to address the dilemma in question have to be identified. Particularly, the ethical challenges that the people revealing the information concerning medical errors as well as the changes that healthcare organizations will have to undergo in order to alter their ethical standards need to be evaluated (Katsi et al. 133). As far as the role of whistleblowers is concerned, one must admit that exposing the fact of a medical error is the right thing to do in any scenario and that the tools that will permit encouraging people to point out medical errors will have to be developed. Therefore, it is recommended that the analysis of the factors that affect people’s decisions in the case in point will have to be analyzed, and the means to promote active and efficient information management must be designed. Thus, the means of enhancing the significance of the essential ethical standards and principles have to be identified. Furthermore, the strategies that will convince healthcare facilities to reconsider their policies regarding medical errors need to be suggested.Medical Error Disclosure: Ethical Dilemma Essay
Relation to Current Issues
As it has been stressed above, the topic under analysis is notoriously known in the contemporary healthcare environment. Studies show that the significance of telling the patient about the medical error made in the course of treatment provision needs to be explained and reinforced so that healthcare providers could be honest with their patients and warn the latter about the issues that they may possibly have due to the mistakes made in the course of treatment. Last but definitely not least, the means of eliminating the slightest possibility of a medical error in the course of diagnosing a health issue and providing the corresponding treatment need to be located. Once the objectives listed above are met, the quality of treatment can be improved substantively.
Works Cited
Adwok, John, and Ellen Hope Kearns. “Defensive Medicine: Effect on Costs, Quality, and Access to Healthcare.” Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare 3.6 (2013): 29–35. Print.
Gallagher, Thomas, Michelle M. Mello, Wendy Levinson, Matthew K. Wynia, Ajit K. Sachdeva, Lois Snyder Sulmasy, Robert D. Truog, James Conway, Kathleen Mazor, Alan Lembitz, Sigall K. Bell, Lauge Sokol-Hessner, Jo Shapiro, Ann-Louise Puopolo, and Robert Arnold. “Talking with Patients about Other Clinicians’ Errors.” the new England Journal of Medicine 369.18 (2013): 1752–1757. Print.
Ghalandarpoorattar, Seyedeh Mojgan, Ahmad Kaviani, and Fariba Asghari. “Medical Error Disclosure: The Gap Between Attitude and Practice.” Postgraduate Medical Journal 88.1 (2013): 130–133. Print.Medical Error Disclosure: Ethical Dilemma Essay
Hannawa, Annegret F., Howard Beckman, Kathleen M. Mazor, and Norbert Paul. “Building Bridges: Future Directions for Medical Error Disclosure Research.” Patient Education and Counseling 92.3 (2013): 319–327. Print.
Raemer, Daniel B., Steven Locke, Toni Beth Walzer, Roxane Gardner, Lee Baer, and Robert Simon. “Rapid Learning of Adverse Medical Event Disclosure and Apology.” Journal of Patient Safety 1.1 (2014): 1–8. Print.
Vasiliki K Katsi, Konstantinos Dean Boudoulas, Irene D Lytrivi, Constantina Masoura, Costas Tsioufis, Ioannis Vlasseros, Ioannis Kallikazaros, Christodoulos Stefanadis, and Harisios Boudoulas. “Medical Error in Clinical Practice: Errare Humanum Est.” The Hellenic Journal of Cardiology 54.2 (2013): 133–135. Print.Medical Error Disclosure: Ethical Dilemma Essay