Why Ethics Consultant Group?

A strong ethics program can reap many concrete benefits for a health care organization. Here's some of the evidence that doing the ethical thing is also doing the smart thing.

Improving accreditation reviews
As of 2009 The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) includes more than 48 standards explicitly pertaining to ethics, patient rights, and organizational responsibilities. A strong clinical ethics program can help ensure that hospitals meet or exceed these standards.[1]

Increasing patient satisfaction
When hospitals support ethical health care practices, patients do better clinically and say they are more satisfied with the care they receive.[5-7]

Avoiding unwanted treatments and unnecessary costs
Effective ethics programs have been shown to improve quality of care and reduce length of stay.[2] Supporting a patient's right to evaluate and forgo undesired or medically inappropriate treatments meets an important ethical standard -- and at the same time can have the effect of reducing costs.[3-4]

Improving employee morale
Organizations that support ethical decision-making - especially facilities whose ethics programs focus on achieving high standards instead of simply complying with policy or law [8] - can expect to have happier, more dedicated employees.[9-11]

Enhancing productivity
A strong corporate ethics culture can improve not only employee morale but also performance, improving the organization's efficiency and productivity.[12-13] An effective ethics program also makes easier to recruit and retain quality staff.[14]

1. History Tracking Report: 2009 to 2008 Requirements Accreditation Program: Hospital. Chapter: Rights and Responsibilities of the Individual, The Joint Commission 2008.
2. Holloran SD, Starkey GW, Burke PA, Steele G Jr., Forse RA. An educational intervention in the surgical intensive care unit to improve ethical decisions. Surgery. 1995 Aug;118(2):294-8; discussion 298-9.
3. Schneiderman LJ, Gilmer, T, Teetzel HD et al. Effect of Ethics Consultations on Nonbeneficial Life-Sustaining Treatments in the Intensive Care Setting: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA. 2003;290:1166-1172.
4. Dowdy, Melvin D. PhD; Robertson, Charles MD; Bander, John A. MS.A study of proactive ethics consultation for critically and terminally ill patients with extended lengths of stay (Clinical Investigations). Critical Care Medicine. 26(2):252-259, February 1998.
5. Kaplan SH, Greenfield S, Ware JE Jr. Assessing the effects of physician-patient interactions on the outcomes of chronic disease, Med Care. 1989 Mar;27 (3 Suppl): S110-27.
6. Pickler Institute, Improving the Quality of Healthcare Through the Eyes of the Patient: A Report for the American Hospital Association, February 2001.
7. Tierney WM, Dexter PR, Gramelspacher GP, Perkins AJ, Zhou XH, Wolinsky FD. The effect of discussions about advance directives on patients' satisfaction with primary care, J Gen Intern Med. 2001 Jan;16(1):32-40.
8. Paine, LS. "Managing for Organizational Integrity." Harvard Business Review 72, no. 2 (March-April 1994): 106-117.
9. Bischoff SJ, DeTienne KB, Quick B. Effects of ethics stress on employee burnout and fatigue: an empirical investigation, J Health Hum Serv Adm. 1999 Spring;21(4):512-32.
10. Research Notes, Healthcare Executive 1996; November/December.
11. 1999 National Business Ethics Study, Walker Information in association with the Hudson Institute, September 1999.
12. Arthur Anderson Co. Ethical Concerns and Reputation Risk Management: A Study of Leading UK Companies, London: London Business School; 1999.
13. Biet MAB. Achieving corporate ethics in healthcare current compliance environment. Fed Ethics Report 1999,6:1-4
14. Verschoor CC. Corporate performance is closely linked to a strong ethical commitment. Bus & Society Rev. 1999; 104:1-407-416.