Organizational Ethics Consulting in the Health Care Environment: A Look at a US Children’s Medical Center

1995 ◽  
pp. 149-161
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Petrick ◽  
John F. Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Organizational Ethics ◽  
Health Care Environment ◽  
Care Environment

scholarly journals The Experience of Providing Physical Therapy in a Changing Health Care Environment

2002 ◽  
Vol 82 (7) ◽  
pp. 648-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary Blau ◽  
Sarah Bolus ◽  
Terrence Carolan ◽  
Daniel Kramer ◽  
Elizabeth Mahoney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Physical Therapists ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Systemic Change ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Health Care Environment ◽  
Care Environment

Abstract Background and Purpose. The changes in the health care environment during the last decade have had an impact on the roles and responsibilities of all health care professionals. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experience of staff physical therapists during a time of systemic change within a large urban academic medical center. Subjects and Methods. Participants were 5 physical therapists working in various clinical settings within the medical center. The participants were interviewed and asked the question “Over the past 4 years, there have been major changes in your work environment. What has it been like for you working as a clinician during this time of change?” Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed to find thematic patterns of responses. Results. Four common themes emerged in which participants described experiencing loss of control, stress, discontent, and disheartenment. A fifth theme showed that despite these negative feelings, participants were able to “find the silver lining” in their daily work lives (ie, they were able to find positive aspects of their professional lives despite the perceived unpleasant changes with which they had to cope). Discussion and Conclusion. This study provides insight into the experiences of a group of staff physical therapists during a time of systemic change in their work environment. Although the themes reflect largely unsettling and negative experiences, there seems to be an underlying ability to find affirmative aspects of work.

Systems Analysis in Health Care: Framework and Example

2002 ◽  
Vol 41 (02) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Ehlers ◽  
R. Eichstädter ◽  
R. Haux ◽  
U. Pohl ◽  
F. Resch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Systems Analysis ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Child And Adolescent Psychiatry ◽  
Health Care Environment ◽  
Care Environment ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Comprehensive Framework ◽  
The University

Summary Objectives: Due to the high complexity of structures and processes in health care, thorough systems analyses in health care run the risk of becoming very complex and difficult to handle. Therefore, we aimed to support systematic systems analysis in health care by developing a comprehensive framework that presents and describes potential areas of analysis. Methods: A framework for systems analysis in health care was developed and applied in a health care setting. To provide a clear structure, the framework describes the potential views and levels of systems analyses in a health care environment. Results: The framework comprises five views (roles and responsibilities, information processing and tools, communication, business processes, teams structure and cooperation) and five levels of analysis (overall organization, organizational unit, staff member, role, task). The framework was successfully applied in an analysis of the structures and processes of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University Medical Center Heidelberg. Conclusions: The proposed comprehensive framework aims to structure the views and levels of systems analysis in the complex health care environment. Our first experiences support the usefulness of such a framework.

The Conundrum of Charitability: Reassessing Tax Exemption For Hospitals

1990 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-380
Author(s):  
David A. Hyman
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Health Care Environment ◽  
Care Environment ◽  
Sharp Focus ◽  
The Right ◽  
Do The Right Thing

Tax exemption is an ancient, honorable and expensive tradition. Tax exemption for hospitals is all of these three, but it also places in sharp focus a fundamental problem with tax exemption in general. Organizations can retain their tax exemption while changing circumstances or expectations undermine the rationale that led to the exemption in the first place. Hospitals are perhaps the best example of this problem. The dramatic changes in the health care environment have eliminated most of the characteristics of a hospital that originally persuaded the citizenry to grant it an exemption. Hospitals have entered into competition with tax-paying businesses, and have increasingly behaved like competitive actors. Such conduct may well be beneficial, but it does not follow that tax exemption is appropriate. Rather than an undifferentiated subsidy, a shift to focused goals will provide charitable hospitals with the opportunity and incentive to “do the right thing.”

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