6
6
Ethical Issues and Decision Making, 2nd Edition: Summary
Ethics and Emerging Technologies Physical therapy personnel will encounter new and emerging technologies that will present their own unique ethical challenges. There are several types of technologies to consider. • Robotics ○ Goal: To promote motor recovery in neuromuscular injuries ○ Issues: Promoting compensation instead of recovery of an injured area ■ Example: Patient with a recent stroke
Ethics and Healthcare Costs U.S. healthcare spending is growing. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) attempts to control costs while still providing quality healthcare to millions of uninsured individuals by providing strategies such as the Bundled Payment Care Initiative (BPCI) and Affordable Care Organizations (ACOs) to emphasize reducing expensive and unnecessary services and becoming more cost effective for patients. Hospitals and physicians must meet specific quality benchmarks, which focus on disease prevention, carefully managing patients with chronic diseases, and keeping patients healthy. This raises the question of what metrics to use to measure outcomes and how to store, aggregate, interpret, and disseminate data. Ethical questions that arise are: • Goal of healthcare being tied to financial incentives versus individual’s specific needs • Specific incentives of specific aspects of one disease leading to neglect of the complexity of care for the individual • Healthcare providers “cherry picking” clients who have the most promising outcomes for cost of services
not wanting to use robotics to assist his injured side due to a sense of disembodiment; therefore, the PT must consider their obligation to respect the inherent dignity and autonomy of the individual
• Telehealth ○ Goal: Easier access to healthcare ○ Issues: Client autonomy, rights of making informed decisions about the nature and type of care, license portability, and—most importantly— privacy and confidentiality rights for the patient
Powered by FlippingBook