Improving Access to Health Care: A Consensus Ethical Framework to Guide Proposals for Reform

Tragically, inadequate social investment in areas such as education, environmental protection, housing, and nutrition not only limits opportunities for Americans, but also reduces the health of the population.11 All stakeholders - including patients, purchasers, businesses, regulators, investors, po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Hastings Center report 2007-09, Vol.37 (5), p.14-19
Main Authors: LEVINE, MARK A., WYNIA, MATTHEW K., SCHYVE, PAUL M., TEAGARDEN, J. RUSSELL, FLEMING, DAVID A., DONOHUE, SHARON KING, ANDERSON, RON J., SABIN, JAMES, EMANUEL, EZEKIEL J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Behavior
Bioethics
Business ethics
Clinical outcomes
Consensus
Delivery of Health Care - legislation & jurisprudence
Delivery of Health Care - organization & administration
Equality
Essays
Ethical accountability
Ethics
Fairness
Health care access
Health care costs
Health care industry
Health care reform
Health Care Reform - ethics
Health outcomes
Health Services Accessibility - ethics
Hospitals
Humans
Inpatient care
Medical care
Medical care quality
Mental health care
Minority & ethnic groups
Opportunity
Patients
Personal health
Quality management
Recommendations
Social ethics
Society
Sustainable economies
United States
Universal access
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Summary:Tragically, inadequate social investment in areas such as education, environmental protection, housing, and nutrition not only limits opportunities for Americans, but also reduces the health of the population.11 All stakeholders - including patients, purchasers, businesses, regulators, investors, policy-makers, and health care institutions - the weight of poor health care access through its effects on health care premiums, productivity, and global economic competitiveness.12 Finally, the traditional value of compassion for the least fortunate among us demands attention to the well-known effects of inadequate access to health care on individuals and families. [...] schemes that call on health professionals to report "nonadherent" patients to authorities (who might then reduce the patient's health care coverage) are also problematic.21 Such schemes might damage the trust that is the foundation of the patient-physician relationship.22 For professional accountability, we recommend that assessments of the quality and outcomes of care be built into system-wide, integrated performance monitoring mechanisms.
ISSN:0093-0334
1552-146X
1552-146X
DOI:10.1353/hcr.2007.0076