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Medical Ethics Advisor

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  • Should patient records be used for research?

    Ethical concerns and privacy regulations make for a more complicated situation when health care researchers desire to view patient records to find potential research subjects.
  • New visitation rules from CMS secure equal rights for all patients

    Last November, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued finalized new rules for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating hospitals designed to protect patients' right to choose their own visitors.
  • Study: Many physicians not following ICD guidelines

    Many physicians are making the decision to implant defibrillators specifically, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) in patients in cases where established guidelines based on the results of previous clinical trials do not appear to support implantation, according to a recent study.
  • Facebook research poses unique ethical concerns

    Researchers might find it tempting to collect data for socio-behavioral studies from social websites like Facebook. Their appeal is having fairly easy access and viewing a broad range of behavioral information. However, there are big ethical issues with regard to informed consent and privacy, an expert says.
  • Start-up consultations improve site compliance

    Researchers often criticize IRBs and see them as barriers to research. One way to turn that attitude around is through the creation of a study start-up consultation. This has another advantage: it can improve clinical trial site compliance with human subjects protection regulations and policies.
  • News Brief: CDC report identifies health disparities

    Americans' differences in income, race/ethnicity, gender, and other social attributes make a difference in how likely they are to be healthy, sick, or die prematurely, according to a news release issued on a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  • Privacy issues when reviewing sensitive work

    IRBs at academic research centers often review international infectious disease research that can raise red flags regarding privacy, confidentiality, and vulnerability.
  • ACOs emphasize prevention, coordination

    As talk of reimbursement reform and pay for performance escalates and health care stakeholders look at ways to improve patient access and outcomes while reducing waste and costs, payers and providers are joining together to create accountable care organizations (ACOs), partnerships that agree to be accountable for the quality, costs, and overall care of a patient population.
  • Schwartz Center rounds offer emotional outlet

    The focus of The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare's programming is something called The Schwartz Center Rounds, which would have a familiar ring to most clinicians.
  • Report identifies key issues for genomics

    A group of experts in areas ranging from medicine to law and bioethics suggests that a base of quality evidence must exist and associated ethical concerns must be addressed before public health strategies based on genomics are implemented.