The Systematic Examination of Attitudes and Peoples Behavior - Essay Example

Ethics is the systematic examination of attitudes and people’s behavior. However, ethics is grouped into different branches including health ethics, work ethics just to mention but a few. No organization can exist without a specific ethical guidelines or else there will arise a series of conflicts based on differences in individuals’ behaviors. As a branch of ethics, health ethics deals with the ethical issues in health including healthcare, drugs and everything that pertains to it. In addition to that, another aspect of healthcare ethics is the element of treatment options and care choices that health care providers face. Moreover, healthcare ethics involve the deliberations about allocations of resources owing to the moral choices arising to the dynamic changes in the healthcare field including technology. Every day healthcare providers are faced with many choices to make some which get them in a catch 22 situation or an ethical dilemma where they are forced to take action even if it means at the expense of their own interests. This then is the basis of the existence of ethical laws and ethics in healthcare institutions.

Models of Healthcare

The basic goal of healthcare systems is to ensure that people are healthy through treating the ailing and protecting the patients from medical bills that they cannot upset. Healthcare systems in any country tend to follow the four general patterns. First of all is the Beveridge model. The inception of this model is credited to one William Beveridge. He was a German social crusader who formed the Britain’s Health Service. The government in this model provides and finances healthcare through taxes provided just like the police force and the library in different parts of a country or a state. Interesting to note is that healthcare is both a public amenity as well as a private one since there are individuals who provide healthcare services privately. More so, the doctors in these public hospitals and clinics could only be government employees while the private doctors get money from the government, that is. the government is their employee.

In countries like the UK for example, these systems are of low costs which then benefits the patients in turn since in this case, the government is the sole player and determines what the doctors do or what they can charge. Hong Kong is among the countries that still subscribe to this model of healthcare provider behavior. Their population refused to give it up when they were under the rule of China. Cuba on the other hand presents the best example of this model because their government is the one in total control of the healthcare sector of their people in the economy .

The second model is the Bismarck model. This model has its genesis associated to a German named Bismarck. He invented the state’s welfare as part of German union in the 19th century. This model in comparison to the rest uses an insurance system. The insurer’s term it as the ailment funds which are financed jointly by the employers and employees through a reduction on their payroll. Unlike other insurance industries, the Bismarck-type health insurance tries to ensure that everyone is covered and consequently they do not make a profit which then is a distinguishing factor between them and other insurance agencies. However, in as much as there exists the insurance system, doctors and hospitals in Bismarck countries tend to be private. This particular model also is only present in some countries including Germany, France, Japan and Netherlands just to mention but a few. The implementation of this model in the afore mentioned countries varies but all mandate the insurance in one form or another. Even so, some of the traits shared include quality care, low costs and simplified administration. Moreover, despite the state price alterations, the cost issues are normally addressed by increasing the premiums instead of controlling costs .

The third model is the National Health Insurance Model. An interesting point to note is this model has elements of both Bismarck and Beveridge. The payment method depends upon the private sectors though payments are made from an insurance program run by the government which is facilitated by the citizens pay. The costs of this model are way cheaper administratively compared to the American-style for-profit insurance. The reason for this is there is no need for marketing, no financial motives that are geared towards denying claims and profits and also the programs are relatively cheaper in this model. Canada uses the National Health Insurance Model system. The sole player therefore has an upper hand in negotiating for lower prices when it comes to healthcare demands. For example, they managed to negotiate reduced prices from pharmaceutical companies that have been spurned by the Americans to buying drugs at the border.

The final service providing model is the out-of-pocket model. Healthcare systems are only developed in the developed countries. Third world countries being affected with poverty and diseases, their healthcare systems are broken and the silent code that exists, the rich get medical attention as the poor suffer and die. Areas like china and India, a huge number of the population go for years without having seen a doctor. This model concentrates on the fact that service is offered on payment. In Rural India for example, access to a doctor is dependent on the amount of money that can be raised even if it means one is sick enough to be admitted to the hospital. Of all the models, this model favors a specific few, a class of people while others are denied their health services.

Physician-Patient Ethical Models

The patient-physician relationship is governed by a number of ethical models which are; paternalistic, informative, interpretive and deliberative model. The paternalistic model makes sure that the patients receive interventions that best improve their well-being. The physician through their expertise checks the patient’s medical status and then identifies the medical results and treatments that are suitable for restoration of their health. In this model, the clinician’s role is one of a guardian to the patient and is responsible for implementing and recommending what is best for the patient. As a result, it is expected of the physician to put their interests above theirs and seeking for guidance whenever adequate knowledge is lacking in reference to the patient’s disease.

Secondly of the models is the informative model. In this model, the patient doctor relationship is based on the relevant information disbursed to the patient and the patient to choose the medical interventions preferable to them which then are to be executed by the physician. The patient’s values are clearly presented but they lack the content pertaining their illness. The clinician therefore presents the required information and then the patient’s values determines what the correct treatments are to be administered. In this model, the role of the physicians values is excluded their sole responsibility being to present facts.

The interpretive model however unlike the informative model provides the physician with an opportunity to apply his values. In this model, the physician clarifies to the patient what exactly is their choice and go ahead to help them chose among the available medical options that achieve the doctor’s values. A similarity with the informative model, a medical practitioner provides the patient with all the information and explains the benefits and the risks involved in particular interventions. In this model, the patient has variable values and consequently the patient may not even understand them fully and thus the physician working with the patient is expected to vividly address and explain coherently these values and what is at stake. In this model conclusively, the physician acts as a counselor helping to clarify values then suggesting the available solutions.

Finally of the four models is the deliberative model. This model assists the patient through the interaction with the physician to determine and choose the best health choices available for them. Among the objectives of the doctor is to explain why particular health oriented values are of more significance than others. Additionally, there are extents where both the patient and the physician engage in deliberations on what kind of health related values the patient is presented with and what they could and should choose. By engaging in deliberations therefore, both the patient and the physician determine the worthiness and health oriented values. Unlike the interpretive model, the deliberative model the physician acts as a teacher; as one who has the knowledge or a friend conversing and reasoning with the patient of what is necessary and significant in matters health.

Stakeholders Management

The major stakeholders in the health care system are the patient, physicians, the government, insurance firms and pharmaceutical firms. These stakeholders each have a part to play in ensuring that health sector is dependable and reliable. The physicians are expected to provide healthcare while the patients are the recipients of it. The insurance companies are tasked with the duty of selling health coverage plans either to patients directly or use subsidiaries such as the government or other organizations where the potential clients work. Pharmaceutical companies are expected to ensure that the medications are developed and marketed which are then going to be prescribed by the doctors to treat the patients. The government on the other hand subsidizes the prices and healthcare for the elderly, disabled and the poor (Merino, 2012.. The interrelationship that exists among the stakeholders is of utmost significance though complex in nature.

Organ transplantation is one of the major milestones achieved in the field of medicine. However, with this discovery are numerous challenges including ethical dilemmas. There are many ethical dilemmas and sophisticated complications that can arise from the aspect of transplants and also organ donations. Some of the ethical dilemmas that exist are both from the donor’s side and the recipients side as well. First, (from the patient’s view) is determining whether the patients are worthy of transplants to be carried out on them. This then leads to the other dilemma of whether the patient is uninsured or underinsured. If the patient is uninsured but needs the organ transplant as soon as possible, that puts the physicians in a compromising position. Another ethical dilemma is in the assessment of living donor candidates. These candidates need to be tested whether they have had previous history of a particular illness, mental illnesses to be precise (Merino, 2012). Last but not least is the trouble of re-transplantation cases. This field is plagued with dilemmas as evidenced in the above premises. However, that has not hindered the progress of one of the greatest inventions in medicine.

Genetic testing is one of medical tests that identifies the differences and changes in chromosomes, the genes and proteins. The tests conducted can determine a genetic condition believed to be present or a person’s chance of ailing from a genetic disorder. Genetic tests comprise newborn screening, diagnostic testing, carrier testing, prenatal testing and preimplantation testing (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2017). Newborn testing is used immediately after birth to detect any anomalies present that can be treated at a young age before the condition persists. In the United States for example, infants are passed through this test in the states. Diagnostic testing is carried out in order to rule out the existence of any specific genetic or chromosomal condition (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2017). Carrier testing is employed to determine whether a patient carries a copy of gene mutation, that when existent results to an abnormal outcome. Prenatal testing can discover any anomalies and changes that may be present in the genes and chromosomes of a developing fetus’s. Finally is the preimplantation testing which is a unique technique that is used to identify a particular gene or chromosomal disorder in a child.