Ethics in Health Services Management by Kurt Darr

From the Publisher

With more material than in any previous edition, the fourth edition of Ethics in Health Services Management addresses such critical contemporary issues as patient autonomy, end-of-life decisions, consent for treatment, appropriate resource allocation, whistle blowing, and confidentiality. An enhanced focus on virtue ethics and values plus closer scrutiny of futility treatment and physician-assisted suicide are new to this edition. Eighty incisive case studies and vignettes from a full range of care delivery settings demonstrate how to use various ethical constructs to analyze situations and subsequently make more organized, defensible decisions. Continuing its longstanding reputation, this popular text provides students and practicing managers with the ethical underpinnings needed to deal wisely, justly, and successfully with both the inherent conflicts existing within health services delivery systems and with the unexpected, sometimes heartbreaking dilemmas arising wherever life and death meet. This is an indispensable text for physician and nurse executives and for courses in health services organization and management, strategic planning, finance, marketing, and nursing management.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Kristzina Libbet Morin, BS, DO, FACEP (Down East Community Hospital)
Description:This is the latest incarnation of this well written and useful ethics guide for both those studying and those practicing healthcare management. The previous edition was published on February 1, 1997. Methods of solving ethical dilemmas are applied to 80 illustrative case studies and vignettes giving the reader a valuable "how to" approach to making ethical decisions in the healthcare arena.
Purpose:The purpose is to give both seasoned healthcare managers and students the background and problem-solving skills to both identify and deal with ethical problems. The inevitable ethical dilemmas spawned by the clash of law, ethics, politics, and emerging technologies require that those who are responsible for the delivery of healthcare have an internal ethical compass to guide their way. The author succeeds in his objective to provide the reader with the tools and insights needed to cope with the ethical consequences of constant change in areas that effect healthcare.
Audience:Although the author wrote this book primarily for healthcare management professionals and students at the undergraduate or graduate level, it would be informative and helpful for anyone involved in healthcare delivery: hospital and nursing home board members, physicians, and nurses. The author's impressive credentials and years of personal experience are evident in this authoritative work.
Features:The author begins by discussing law and ethics and the relationship between them and corporate decision making. He then reviews the major philosophicaltheories (e.g. deontology, utilitarianism; natural law) then relates them to the derivative guidelines of principlism as a way to link theory and action. He emphasizes the importance of management's role as a moral agent responsible for the development and implementation of a sound moral philosophy. He points out the need for an organizational philosophy that defines what is morally right and what is morally wrong. From this springs a vision, a mission and a way to respond to ethical problems. He discusses various codes of ethics as blends of moral philosophies and ethical theories. He presents guidelines designed to help managers solve the ethical issues that arise from conflicts of interest, fiduciary duty, organization and staff; patients and community. The remainder of the book discusses methodologies to solve biomedical ethical issues, such as consent, death and dying, and autonomy; and emerging ethical issues, such as marketing, managed care, resource allocation, and social responsibility. The best features of this book are its readability and the use of case studies and vignettes. Many ethics books are written in an inflated pretentious diction that makes the reader feel the need for some sort of divining rod to discover what the author is trying to say. This author has the ability to write in a simple straightforward manner that both entertains and educates. Those who enjoy case presentation and analysis will particularly appreciate the variety of interesting scenarios used to illustrate his ethical problem-solving strategies. There are also useful appendixes covering organizational philosophies, mission statements, and ethical codes. The book is well indexed and has an up-to-date biography.
Assessment:This book is very well written, well organized and concise. It offers practical methodologies for dealing with ethical problems faced not only by management, but by anyone involved in the delivery of healthcare. This is the fourth edition of a book originally written some 20 years ago. Healthcare and its delivery have changed and so must the vision and tools needed to cope with these changes. In this endeavor, the author succeeds. All things considered, this book would serve as an excellent introduction and foundation in healthcare ethics because it is easy to read, well organized, and up-to-date.

Rating

5 Stars! from Doody

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents