Ethical Standards

 Week 3 – Discussion 1

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Reference the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Ethical Standards

This discussion has two options. Please choose either Option A or Option B to respond to. Be sure you indicate within your post which option you chose.

Option A: Imagine you are a health information manager in a hospital setting.  Your facility has purchased an electronic health record (EHR) system.  During the testing period, you and your staff discover that the EHR system does not comply with applicable federal policy and security standards.  Pressure is mounting to deploy the system in the near future. (Case Study, p. 105)

How should you proceed?  What ethical issues should you consider in making your decision?  Using the steps in the ethical decision-making process as your framework, describe the multiple influences on your decision and discuss the steps you will take to resolve this issue.

Option B: As noted in Chapter 5 of your textbook, “Understanding what constitutes ethics requires learning about various models, concepts, and theories.  This understanding assists the learner to identify ethical challenges and determine how to resolve the dilemmas posted in varying situations” (McWay, 2010).
Provide an overview of the chief ethical standards and concepts (i.e., autonomy, justice, etc.).  Why are these concepts important in health care?  What role do they play in health information management, specifically?  Define and describe the two categories of ethical theories.  How do these principles collectively help us to deal with ethical dilemmas?

Guided Response (for Option A and Option B): Review several of your classmates’ posts.  Provide a substantive response to at least two of your peers, one who selected Option A and one who selected Option B. Discuss the ways in which you and your peers differ in your approach to ethical challenges and dilemmas. What is their rationale for the impact of ethical concepts and theories on the ethical decision making process?  Do you agree or disagree with their analysis? Why?