Skip to main content

Organizational Ethics: Moral Obligation and Integrity

  • Chapter
Institutional Integrity in Health Care

Part of the book series: Philosophy and Medicine ((PHME,volume 79))

  • 232 Accesses

Abstract

Organizational ethics in healthcare assesses the obligations of healthcare organizations and addresses how organizations ought to act in particular situations. The past decade has brought increasing attention to organizational ethics from scholars, healthcare executives, the American Medical Association, and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.1 Despite this attention, we lack a shared understanding of what robust moral obligations healthcare organizations bear.2 There may be a set of minimum obligations borne by healthcare organizations, such as the obligation not to commit fraud. But it may not be possible justifiably to attribute to all healthcare the same obligations to indigent persons, for example. This lack of agreement should come as no surprise given the morally pluralistic composition of our society, a circumstance documented in this volume by Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J. (2003) and Ronald Arnett and Janie Harden Fritz (2003).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Bibliography

  • American Medical Association. (2000). Working Group on Health Care Organizational Ethics Chicago: AMA. Available on-line: http//www.ama-assn.org/ethic/workgroup.htm

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, R.C. and J. M. Harden Fritz (2003). Sustaining institutional ethics and integrity: Management in a postmodern moment. In: Iltis, A. S. (ed.), Institutional Integrity in Health Care (pp. 41–71 ). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers

    Google Scholar 

  • Brody, B. A. (1988). Life and Death Decision Making. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covrig, Duane M. (2003). `Institutional integrity through periods of significant change. Loma Linda

    Google Scholar 

  • University’s 100 year struggle with organizational identity.’ In: Iltis, A. S. (ed.), Institutional Integrity in Health Care (pp. 139–174). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers

    Google Scholar 

  • Emanuel, E. J. (1995). ‘Medical ethics in the era of managed care: The need for institutional structures instead of principles for individual cases,’ The Journal of Clinical Ethics, 6 (4), 335–338.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Engelhardt, H. T. Jr. (1996). The Foundations of Bioethics. New York: Oxford University Press. French, P. A. (2003). ‘Inference gaps in moral assessment and the moral agency of health care organizations.’ In: A. S. Iltis (ed.), Institutional Integrity in Health Care (pp. 7–28 ). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, R. T. (2000). An Introduction to Healthcare Organizational Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann, P. B. and W. A. Nelson (eds.) (2001). Managing Ethically: An Executive’s Guide. Chicago: Health Administration Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iltis, A. S. (2001a). Organizational ethics and institutional integrity, HEC Forum, 13(4), 317–328. Iltis, A. S. (200 lb). `Institutional integrity in Roman Catholic health care institutions, Christian Bioethics, 7(1), 93–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iltis, A. S. (forthcoming). ‘Understanding moral obligation in the face of moral pluralism,’ Journal of Value Inquiry

    Google Scholar 

  • Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (1997). Hospital Accreditation Standards. Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois: JCAHO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerry, J. M. (1999). ‘MergerWatch: It may be coming to a community near you,’ Catholic Health World, April 1. Available online:

    Google Scholar 

  • www.chausa.org/PUBS/PUBSART.ASP?ISSUE=W990401andARTICLE=D

    Google Scholar 

  • Logue, G. and S. Wear (2003). The health care institution/patient relationship. In: A. S. Iltis (ed.), Institutional Integrity in Health Care (pp. 99–110). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. MergerWatch (2002). Home page. Available on-line:www.mergerwatch.org

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, A. E., E. S. Spencer, and P. H. Werhane (eds.) (2001). Developing Organization Ethics in Healthcare: A Case-Based Approach to Policy, Practice, and Compliance. Hagerstown, Maryland: University Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Conference of Catholic Bishops (1995 and 2001 ) Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs). Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rie, M. (1991). Defining the limits of institutional moral agency in health care: A response to Kevin Wildes, The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 16, 221–224.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rorty, M. V. (2000). Ethics and economics in healthcare: The role of organization ethics, HEC Forum, 12 (1), 57–68.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schyve, P. M. (1996). Patient rights and organization ethics: The Joint Commission perspective, Bioethics Forum, Summer, 13–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tollefsen, C. (2003). Institutional integrity. In: A. S. Iltis (ed.), Institutional Integrity in Health Care (pp. 121–137 ). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Werhane, P. (2000). Business ethics, stakeholder theory, and the ethics of healthcare organizations, Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 9 (2), 169–181.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Werhane, P. H. (2003). Business ethics, organization ethics, and systems ethics for health care. In: A. S. Iltis (ed.), Institutional Integrity in Health Care (pp. 73–98 ). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wildes, K. Wm. S.J. (2003). Institutional integrity in health care: Tony Soprano and family values. In: A.S. Iltis (ed.), Institutional Integrity in Health Care (pp. 29–39 ). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wildes, K. Wm., S.J. (1997). Institutional identity, integrity, and conscience, Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, 7 (4), 413–419.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Iltis, A.S. (2003). Organizational Ethics: Moral Obligation and Integrity. In: Iltis, A.S. (eds) Institutional Integrity in Health Care. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 79. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0153-2_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0153-2_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6502-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-0153-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics