scholarly journals The Symposium on “Setting Health-Care Priorities” by Torbjörn Tännsjö

Diametros ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (68) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Piotr Grzegorz Nowak

The present paper constitutes an introduction to a special issue of Diametros devoted to Setting Health-Care Priorities. What Ethical Theories Tell Us by Torbjörn Tännsjö. The book in question states that there are three moral theories which have valid implications in the field of the distribution of medical resources in a healthcare system: utilitarianism (possibly conjoined with prioritarianism), the maximin/leximin view, and egalitarianism. A number of authors have contributed to this special issue with papers which challenge this thesis. Robert E. Goodin argues that, besides general moral theories, some local principles of justice might be valid. Quinn Hiroshi Gibson states that Tännsjö should have considered the Rawlsian view on justice in its contractualist reading. Jay A. Zameska argues that his “revised lexical sufficientarianism” constitutes a more reliable moral view than prioritarianism. Finally, Lasse Nielsen points out that there is more to say about distributive justice than consequentialist theories can grasp. Moreover, he puts forward an argument in defense of prioritarianism. The final article in this issue constitutes Tännsjö’s replies to his critics.

Diametros ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbjörn Tännsjö

This is a short reply to Professor Reichlin’s comment on my book Setting Health-Care Priorities. What Ethical Theories Tell Us. The version of prioritarianism I rely on in the book is defended as the most plausible one. The general claim that there is convergence between all plausible theories on distributive justice is also defended with regard to assisted reproduction, disability, and enhancement.


1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (03) ◽  
pp. 246-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Haux ◽  
F. J. Leven ◽  
J. R. Moehr ◽  
D. J. Protti

Abstract:Health and medical informatics education has meanwhile gained considerable importance for medicine and for health care. Specialized programs in health/medical informatics have therefore been established within the last decades.This special issue of Methods of Information in Medicine contains papers on health and medical informatics education. It is mainly based on selected papers from the 5th Working Conference on Health/Medical Informatics Education of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA), which was held in September 1992 at the University of Heidelberg/Technical School Heilbronn, Germany, as part of the 20 years’ celebration of medical informatics education at Heidelberg/Heilbronn. Some papers were presented on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the health information science program of the School of Health Information Science at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Within this issue, programs in health/medical informatics are presented and analyzed: the medical informatics program at the University of Utah, the medical informatics program of the University of Heidelberg/School of Technology Heilbronn, the health information science program at the University of Victoria, the health informatics program at the University of Minnesota, the health informatics management program at the University of Manchester, and the health information management program at the University of Alabama. They all have in common that they are dedicated curricula in health/medical informatics which are university-based, leading to an academic degree in this field. In addition, views and recommendations for health/medical informatics education are presented. Finally, the question is discussed, whether health and medical informatics can be regarded as a separate discipline with the necessity for specialized curricula in this field.In accordance with the aims of IMIA, the intention of this special issue is to promote the further development of health and medical informatics education in order to contribute to high quality health care and medical research.


Author(s):  
Samuel Freeman

This chapter argues that distributive justice is institutionally based. Certain cooperative institutions are basic: they are necessary for economic production and the division of labor, trade and exchange, and distribution and consumption. These background institutions presuppose principles of justice to specify their terms, allocate productive resources, and define fair distributions. Primary among these basic institutions are property; laws and conventions enabling transfers of goods and productive resources; and the legal system of contract and agreements that make transfers possible and productive. Political institutions are necessary to specify, interpret, enforce, and make effective the terms of these institutions. Thus, basic cooperative institutions are social; they are realizable only within the context of social and political cooperation—this is a fixed empirical fact about cooperation among free and equal persons. Given the nature of fair social cooperation as a kind of reciprocity, distributive justice is primarily social rather than global in reach.


Author(s):  
Samuel Freeman

This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of liberalism, which is best understood as an expansive, philosophical notion. Liberalism is a collection of political, social, and economic doctrines and institutions that encompasses classical liberalism, left liberalism, liberal market socialism, and certain central values. This chapter then introduces subsequent chapters, which are divided into three parts. Part I, “Liberalism, Libertarianism, and Economic Justice,” clarifies the distinction between classical liberalism and the high liberal tradition and their relation to capitalism, and then argues that libertarianism is not a liberal view. Part II, “Distributive Justice and the Difference Principle,” analyzes and applies John Rawls’s principles of justice to economic systems and private law. Part III, “Liberal Institutions and Distributive Justice,” focuses on the crucial role of liberal institutions and procedures in determinations of distributive justice and addresses why the first principles of a moral conception of justice should presuppose general facts in their justification.


CJEM ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 532-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas B. Chartier ◽  
Antonia S. Stang ◽  
Samuel Vaillancourt ◽  
Amy H. Y. Cheng

ABSTRACTThe topics of quality improvement (QI) and patient safety have become important themes in health care in recent years, particularly in the emergency department setting, which is a frequent point of contact with the health care system for patients. In the first of three articles in this series meant as a QI primer for emergency medicine clinicians, we introduced the strategic planning required to develop an effective QI project using a fictional case study as an example. In this second article we continue with our example of improving time to antibiotics for patients with sepsis, and introduce the Model for Improvement. We will review what makes a good aim statement, the various categories of measures that can be tracked during a QI project, and the relative merits and challenges of potential change concepts and ideas. We will also present the Model for Improvement’s rapid-cycle change methodology, the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle. The final article in this series will focus on the evaluation and sustainability of QI projects.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Consolandi

Purpose Seniors are nowadays at the core of important reflections to understand both how to ensure them a proper quality of life and better recognize their social role, providing them services and proper health care to value them as persons and resources. This paper aims to find a through definition about who is a senior, in the author’s opinion the starting point to help them flourishing. Design/methodology/approach As an example of definitions, an online dictionary and two geriatric text-books are quoted, highlighting qualities and rights referred to seniors especially in the delicate context of the health-care system. Findings The lack of a commonly shared perspective on this delicate kind of patient entails the difficulty to reach a coherent and satisfying definition about who a senior is. Originality/value The lack of a commonly shared definition leads to inevitable misunderstandings and could explain the arduousness of considering seniors in all their aspects. Further investigations are suggested.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 93-94
Author(s):  
Lyazzat Kosherbayeva ◽  
Aigul Medeulova ◽  
Abdulla Alzhanov

INTRODUCTION:The State Program for Health Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) “Densaulyk” for 2016–2019 initiated the modernization of primary health care with the introduction of family practice in order to ensure the availability, completeness and quality of health services on the basis of an integrated healthcare system focused on the needs of the population. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the cochlear implantation (CI) programs.METHODS:A literature search was conducted for all clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, and reviews in the PubMed, Cochrane, and Center for Reviews and Dissemination databases. Two reviewers independently evaluated all publications for selection. The analysis included the cost-effectiveness and benefit from the CI program.RESULTS:We analyzed the effectiveness of the services for CI in the RK and other countries (1). In our analysis, we identified that there is no research on Quality-adjusted Life Years (QALYs) and Cost-Utility Analysis (CUA) in RK. We found that, in general, the cost of CI and pre-surgical procedures are comparable with other countries. The length of stay in Kazakhstan was much higher (an average of 8 days) compared with other countries (3 days). Also in RK, there were significantly lower prices per hospital day and cost of various consultations. Postoperative costs of other countries consisted of one-third to two-thirds of the total costs for preoperative and implantation stages (2, 3). There was a little information on the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs in RK.CONCLUSIONS:Economic research like QALYs and CUA are new directions in the healthcare system in the RK. Lack of integration between primary care, rehabilitation and other services leads to difficulties in assessing the effectiveness of CI programs (for example, in our case, there was the restriction of assessment in only postoperative costs).


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