Assignment: Clinical Dilemma

In Learning Activity 1, you dealt with an ethical dilemma caused by your physicians' refusal to correct their own errors due to resistance to your facility's new Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system. In this assignment, you'll consider this case from the perspective of an administrator.

You've just spend a lot of money on your new EMR System. Although the purchase and use of the system is in compliance with new federal requirements and will ultimately help improve continuity of care for patients, some physicians refuse to use the new system. They complain that the new system slows them down and is creating errors in documenting procedures. They insist that their old charting methods have always been adequate.

The quality assurance department reports to the VP of Operations that several nurses and student-nurses have observed an increase in the number of physician documentation errors in patients' medical records. Several physicians field a grievance against the hospital. They claim the hospital is engaging in unethical behavior by forcing clinicians to use the new EMR system.

Address the following points in a 2-page response paper:
•How is technology changing the ethical issues the healthcare administrator must face?

•Discuss the challenges of balancing ethical principles, quality control, fiscal (monetary) concerns, and the organizational mission.

•Describe the position of the doctors in this scenario in ethical terms. The physicians argue the hospital is acting unethically. Upon what ethical bases do they claim this?

•Generate a solution to this conflict. Support your solution with ethical concepts. How can you argue that the hospital is acting in the best interests of the patients, staff, and medical community?

•Your paper should be formatted in APA style, including a references list.