The healthcare organization: New efficiency endeavors and the organization ethics program

Journal of Clinical Ethics

Volumn 13, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 29-39

  Mills, Ann E ^a   Spencer, Edward M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ACCREDITATION; ARTICLE; BIOETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS; CLINICAL PRACTICE; COST CONTROL; ETHICS; HEALTH CARE AND PUBLIC HEALTH; HEALTH CARE DELIVERY; HEALTH CARE QUALITY; HUMAN; INSTITUTIONAL ETHICS; MEDICAL ERROR; ORGANIZATION; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; STANDARD; TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT; UNITED STATES;

BIOETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS; HEALTH CARE AND PUBLIC HEALTH;

COST SAVINGS; DECISION MAKING, ORGANIZATIONAL; DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE; EFFICIENCY, ORGANIZATIONAL; ETHICS, INSTITUTIONAL; HUMANS; JOINT COMMISSION ON ACCREDITATION OF HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS; MEDICAL ERRORS; ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE; ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION; PHYSICIAN'S PRACTICE PATTERNS; PROCESS ASSESSMENT (HEALTH CARE); TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT; UNITED STATES;

EID: 0036490931     PISSN: 10467890     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (14)

1. A. Jose and M.S. Thibodeaux, "Institutionalization of Ethics: The Perspective of Managers," Journal of Business Ethics 22, no. 2 (1 November 1999): 133-43.
2. J. Detert, R.G. Schroeder, and J.J. Mauriel, "A Framework for Linking Culture and Improvement Initiatives in Organizations," Academy of Management Review 25, no. 4 (1 October 2000): 850-63.
3. B. Victor and J. Cullen, "The Organizational Bases of Ethical Work Climates," Administrative Science Quarterly 33 (1988): 101-25.
4. E.M. Spencer et al., Organization Ethics in Health Care (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 6.
5. A.E. Mills, E.M. Spencer, and P.H. Werhane, eds., Developing Organization Ethics in Healthcare: A Case-Based Approach to Policy, Practice, and Compliance (Hagerstown, Md.: University Publishing Group, 2001): J. West and E. White, "Appendix C: The Development of the Sentara Healthcare System's Ethics Program"; C. Myser, P. Donehower, and C. Frank, "Appendix D: Bridging the Gap between Clinical and Organizational Ethics in a Newly Merged Healthcare Organization"; J. Gallagher and J. Goodstein, "Appendix E: Fulfilling Institutional Responsibilities in Healthcare: Organizational Ethics and the Role of Mission Discernment."
6. A.E. Mills, E.M. Spencer, and P.H. Werhane, eds., Developing Organization Ethics in Healthcare: A Case-Based Approach to Policy, Practice, and Compliance (Hagerstown, Md.: University Publishing Group, 2001): J. West and E. White, "Appendix C: The Development of the Sentara Healthcare System's Ethics Program"; C. Myser, P. Donehower, and C. Frank, "Appendix D: Bridging the Gap between Clinical and Organizational Ethics in a Newly Merged Healthcare Organization"; J. Gallagher and J. Goodstein, "Appendix E: Fulfilling Institutional Responsibilities in Healthcare: Organizational Ethics and the Role of Mission Discernment."
7. A.E. Mills, E.M. Spencer, and P.H. Werhane, eds., Developing Organization Ethics in Healthcare: A Case-Based Approach to Policy, Practice, and Compliance (Hagerstown, Md.: University Publishing Group, 2001): J. West and E. White, "Appendix C: The Development of the Sentara Healthcare System's Ethics Program"; C. Myser, P. Donehower, and C. Frank, "Appendix D: Bridging the Gap between Clinical and Organizational Ethics in a Newly Merged Healthcare Organization"; J. Gallagher and J. Goodstein, "Appendix E: Fulfilling Institutional Responsibilities in Healthcare: Organizational Ethics and the Role of Mission Discernment."
8. A.E. Mills, E.M. Spencer, and P.H. Werhane, eds., Developing Organization Ethics in Healthcare: A Case-Based Approach to Policy, Practice, and Compliance (Hagerstown, Md.: University Publishing Group, 2001): J. West and E. White, "Appendix C: The Development of the Sentara Healthcare System's Ethics Program"; C. Myser, P. Donehower, and C. Frank, "Appendix D: Bridging the Gap between Clinical and Organizational Ethics in a Newly Merged Healthcare Organization"; J. Gallagher and J. Goodstein, "Appendix E: Fulfilling Institutional Responsibilities in Healthcare: Organizational Ethics and the Role of Mission Discernment."
9. Michael Millenson, a long-time observer of the American Medical Association, writes that by 1986 the Journal of the American Medical Association had embraced quality measurement and management as a legitimate and important tool to improve outcomes in healthcare delivery. See M. Millenson, "Miracle and Wonder: The AMA Embraces Quality Measurement," Health Affairs 16, no. 3 (May-June 1997): 183-4.
10. We draw portions of this section from A.E. Mills and M.V. Rorty, "Total Quality Management and the Silent Patient," Business Ethics Quarterly (forthcoming, October 2002).
11. W.E. Deming, "Improvement of Quality and Productivity through Action by Management," National Productivity Review 1, no. 1 (Winter 1981-1982): 12-22.
12. The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award is an annual award to recognize U.S. companies for their business excellence and quality achievement. Afraid that the work of Juran, Deming, and other leaders in the quality movement would be ignored by American business, Congress initiated the award as a way of emphasizing the importance of quality and ensuring that American business understands the importance of concepts associated with TQM. Information on the award is available at 〈http://www.quality.nist. gov〉.
13. For a list of companies that have been awarded the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award (which includes companies in each category we have listed), see 〈http://www.quality.nist.gov/winners/winlist.htm〉.
14. The effectiveness of the techniques associated with TQM is evident in the National Institute of Standards and Technology's calculation that a hypothetical stock index made up of publicly traded U.S. companies that have received the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award would have outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 by almost 3 to 1. See "Ten Years of Excellence for America," available at 〈http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/baldrdist.pdf〉.