ACHE recognizes that executives and managers may need guidance in addressing specific ethical concerns. The Ethical Policy Statements present ACHE’s position on various ethical issues in healthcare and suggest a standard of behavior for healthcare executives facing these challenges.
ACHE’s Ethical Policy Statements originate from key issues of concern to members and are drafted at the committee level. The Board Policy Committee then reviews the statements before they are brought before the Board of Governors for final approval. Once a new or revised Statement has been approved by the Board, it is made available to all members in the following issue of Healthcare Executive magazine and in the Annual Report & Reference Guide. The Statements, which are regularly reviewed and updated, should be helpful to you as you advance your career and address increasingly complex and challenging issues.
In addition to providing guidance to individual executives, the Ethical Policy Statements can be used at the organizational level. Because the Statements represent the thoughtful reflection of many professionals with knowledge and experience in healthcare administration, they can serve as an important and useful resource in the development of policies or procedures at a specific organization. For example, most healthcare facilities have policies regarding the care of patients at the end of life. The professionals drafting or revising the end-of-life policies at your facility will likely conduct research, including an exploration of other facility’s policies, consensus and position papers from an ethics and legal perspective, and various professional organization policy statements. ACHE’s Ethical Policy Statement on “Decisions Near the End of Life” can be an important resource in this process.
Following are the current ACHE Ethical Policy Statements. Click on one of the links to go to that statement.
- Creating an Ethical Culture Within Healthcare Organizations
- Considerations for Healthcare Executive-Supplier Relationships
- Decisions Near the End of Life
- Ethical Decision Making for Healthcare Executives
- Ethical Issues Related to Reduction in Force
- Ethical Issues Related to Staff Shortages
- Health Information Confidentiality
- Impaired Healthcare Executives
- Promise-Making, Keeping and Rescinding