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Exposure to a gift restriction policy during medical school was associated with reduced prescribing of two out of three newly introduced psychotropic medications, according to a recent study.
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Physicians will need to give more thought to whether and how to discuss the costs of care with patients as a result of health care reform, according to Mark A. Hall, JD, professor of law and public health at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.
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Of 600 residency program directors and medical school admissions officers surveyed, 64% reported being somewhat or very familiar with searching individual profiles on social networking sites, 9% reported routinely using social networking sites in the selection process, and 53% stated that unprofessional information on applicants websites could compromise their admission into medical school or residency.
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When performing whole genome sequencing, clinicians may encounter incidental findings unrelated to the condition for which the patient was tested. The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics recently recommended that clinical labs should be required to analyze 56 genes that increase the likelihood of diseases for which there is an intervention.
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Bioethicists often lack a clear prescence in quality assurance committees, but their involvement has many potential benefits for clinical ethics services, clinicians, hospital administrators, and patients.
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More hospitals and health care facilities are developing policies, procedures, resources, and training modules to address disclosure of mistakes to patients and families.
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Informed consent is a key ethical concern when health care providers are consenting to a mandatory vaccination, since autonomous patient choice is not possible where vaccination is a condition of employment.
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Patient safety is at risk if clinicians with undiagnosed conditions causing impairment continue to practice, but colleagues often fail to report the impairment.
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Occasionally, clinicians, patients, or surrogates reject an ethicists advice or recommendations. In this scenario, bioethicists should seek to maintain working relationships and continue dialogue.
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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) will put more emphasis on both comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, and this raises important ethical considerations, according to Gary E. Jones, PhD, JD, professor in the Philosophy Department at University of San Diego (CA).
