Hospital Code of Ethics Critique Term Paper

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PRIVACY and CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Protection and safeguarding of information created in the conduct of Lenox Hill

Hospital and its affiliates business including patient information, staff data, financial data, research data, strategic plans, statistical information, purchasing agreements and contracts.

The words information created are an unnecessary limitation that narrow the applicability of the provision, contrary to its obvious intent to apply as broadly as possible. Under a literal interpretation, the provision, as drafted, does not apply to any of the types of information listed unless that information is "created" by the hospital.

Therefore, a better formulation of that portion of the provision would read as follows:

Protection and safeguarding of any and all information created, accessed, maintained, collected, transmitted, duplicated, or utilized by the hospital or by any of the hospital's employees, agents, associates, consultants, contractors, and any other person or entity affiliated in any way with the hospital..."

Business PRACTICES

Avoidance of transactions that excessively benefit private individuals in contravention of laws and regulations applicable to tax-exempt organizations.

This provision is extremely problematic because it invites multiple levels of subjective determination of what constitutes a "contravention of law" and what regulations are "applicable," to tax-exempt organizations. A better formulation would read as follows:

Avoidance of any transactions pertaining to tax-exempt organizations that benefit private individuals without a specific evaluation by hospital administration and approval by hospital administration and clearance by hospital legal counsel that those transactions are permissible."

Incentivizing Compliance:

The best opportunity to promote understanding of the role of the compliance officer and to provide incentive for compliance would by reformulating the final provision to read as follows:

HOW to USE the COMPLIANCE PROGRAM

All employees and staff have a vital responsibility to help ensure that the business of the Hospital and its affiliates is conducted legally and ethically. All employees and staff are responsible for performing their assigned duties in accordance with the principles of ethical and legal conduct and are obligated to report any suspected violations of law, regulations, procedure, policy, instructions, or any element of the Code of Ethics to their immediate supervisors or to the Compliance Officer. All communications with the compliance officer will be held in the strictest confidence and any retaliation for reported violations will be strictly addressed to protect the complainant. Provided all employee complaints reflect the honest belief of the complainant, no punishment or consequences will ever result from complaints, even where they are determined to be in error. Furthermore, reports of significant violations that are substantiated and found to be warranted will be noted in the complainant's formal file in the manner of other commendations for future consideration, as….....