Professionalism and Ethics

Question 1

Advance care directive

Answer 1

A legal document that specifies a person’s preferences for treatments, life-sustaining technology, and other medical care; written before and used after the person is incapacitated.

Question 2

Authorized users

Answer 2

Individuals who need to access a patient’s record to fulfill their official job-related duties and responsibilities.

Question 3

Autonomy

Answer 3

The ethical principle of making decisions independently or for oneself.

Question 4

Belmont Report

Answer 4

Ethical foundation for biomedical and behavioral research in the United States; published in 1979 under the formal title Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research.

Question 5

Beneficence

Answer 5

The ethical principle of acting to help or benefit others.

Question 6

Best interests standard

Answer 6

A standard whereby a patient’s surrogate makes healthcare decisions based on the patient’s best interests.

Question 7

Case consultation

Answer 7

The institutional ethics committee process of hearing and reviewing an ethical conflict and then advising all the parties involved on the next most appropriate steps to take.

Question 8

Casuistry

Answer 8

An ethical decision-making approach that relies on a case’s facts, complexity, relevant laws, and unusual circumstances to determine a judgment on that case.

Question 9

Common Rule

Answer 9

Uniform set of regulations on the ethical conduct of research involving human subjects established by the federal agencies that fund such research; formally Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects.

Question 10

Culturally competent and sensitive care

Answer 10

Healthcare that is aware, considerate, and respectful of patients’ cultural and ethnic backgrounds and practices.

Question 11

Declaration of Helsinki

Answer 11

International ethics guide for physicians conducting research using human subjects; developed by the World Medical Association and originally adopted in Helsinki, Finland.

Question 12

Duty of care

Answer 12

A responsibility under fiduciary duty that requires an individual or a group to act with the same care and prudence that any reasonable entity would exercise.

Question 13

Empathy

Answer 13

The consideration of others’ emotions and situations that allows one to feel the same way.

Question 14

Enlightened self-interest

Answer 14

An ethical theory that maximizes the benefits to oneself and minimizes harm to others.

Question 15

Eugenics

Answer 15

The ethically questionable practice of controlling who reproduces (those with desirable genetic makeup) and who should be sterilized (those with hereditary genetic defects) in an attempt to breed a more superior human population.

Question 16

Federal-wide assurance of compliance

Answer 16

A written, binding, formal commitment by an institution to comply with applicable regulations on research using human subjects.

Question 17

Fidelity

Answer 17

Good stewardship as demonstrated by keeping confidences and avoiding conflicts of interest.

Question 18

Fiduciary duty

Answer 18

The duty of an individual or a group to act in the best interest of another individual or group.

Question 19

Good-faith duty

Answer 19

The duty of healthcare management consultants to avoid conflicts of interest and self-dealing.

Question 20

Justice

Answer 20

The ethical principle of administering deserved rewards or penalties that are aligned with legal and moral standards.

Question 21

Law fallacy

Answer 21

The erroneous assumption that when healthcare managers are acting legally, they are acting ethically.

Question 22

Lexington Model

Answer 22

A risk management program for disclosing errors that was instituted in Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center following a patient’s death (The Joint Commission requires accredited healthcare organizations to have a process for disclosing unanticipated outcomes of care).

Question 23

Medical futility

Answer 23

The professional opinion that continuing medical treatment is no longer a viable option for a patient.

Question 24

Moral blindness

Answer 24

Insensitivity to or ignorance of the ethical implications of an action, whether one’s own or that of others; the Tuskegee Study is one example.

Question 25

Nonmaleficence

Answer 25

The ethical principle of refraining from actions that could harm others.

Question 26

Nonmoral concerns

Answer 26

Ethically neutral factors in a decision, such as religious doctrine, personal faith, laws and regulations, self-interest, and situational context.

Question 27

Nuremberg Code

Answer 27

A set of ten statements requiring that human participation in research be voluntary and informed; established after the Nuremberg Military Tribunals Doctors Trial, in which Nazi doctors were tried for performing torturous medical experiments on civilian prisoners during World War II.

Question 28

Privacy

Answer 28

The right of individuals to limit others’ access to their body, thoughts, and feelings.

Question 29

Respect for persons, beneficence, and justice in research

Answer 29

Three ethical principles of the Belmont Report referring to informed consent, assessment of risks and benefits to research participants, and the fair and unbiased selection of research participants.

Question 30

Security

Answer 30

The use of managerial, personnel, operational, and technical controis to ensure that information systems and applications run effectively and support the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data and information.

Question 31

Stewardship

Answer 31

The act of putting first the best interests of stakeholders, which leads to building and maintaining trust.

Question 32

Stigma

Answer 32

A discredited attribute that may lead to segregation and social disdain.

Question 33

Tuskegee Study

Answer 33

A 40-year-long syphilis study on 600 African-American men in Macon County, Alabama, that misinformed its subjects and prevented treatment for the syphilitic men in the group.