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There is a growing focus on identifying a core set of quality metrics that can be used to improve both palliative and end-of-life care.
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Comparative effectiveness research (CER) has the potential to improve outcomes and lower costs, but one key ethical concern is how to best convey to patients that they are participating in research.
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While the vast majority of gamete donations are made anonymously, a growing number of countries are enacting laws allowing children access to identifying information about their gamete donor.
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The Affordable Care Act invested significantly in comparative effectiveness research (CER), but at the same time, states that no decisions coming out of CER should determine what treatments are covered by insurers, notes Norman Daniels, PhD, professor of ethics and population health at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, MA.
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Health care providers frequently have misconceptions about legal requirements of end-of-life care. By educating providers about how to make decisions when people lose capacity, fewer formal ethics or legal consults will be needed.
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IRBs often struggle with determining risks of social and behavioral research studies. Its easy to be both too cautious and too complacent.
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There are no industry standards for handling incidental findings (IFs) in research.
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As technology in genetic and genomic research expands, most if not all IRBs will face the issue of incidental findings, including how to manage them, and whether researchers have a duty to report them to study participants, experts say.
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The Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center IRB and a special task force developed guidance and a template for improving and simplifying informed consent forms.
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The exponential increase in smartphones and social networking sites has led to concerns from some patients regarding the possible unlawful distribution of images outside the realms of their care.
