Ethical Tools for All

What exactly is the Healthcare Industry? Who works in the healthcare industry? Does it only constitute doctors, nurses, allied healthcare staff, hospitals, clinics, and the first aid station? For many, the healthcare industry is composed of the staff and facilities that provide direct patient care. However, those who support the healthcare industry have begun to be included, in the author's opinion, in this most important of all social clubs. For example, the individual billing clerk may not provide direct patient care, but their ability to properly (and ethically) code and bill insurance companies can have massive influence when compounded. Multiply their actions by as many billing clerks currently employed today, it is easy to see how billions of dollars and as an effect the quality of healthcare delivery can be seriously augmented by support staff.

While significant cost concerns support staff can create or alleviate is of vital importance to any healthcare facility, what can be said about the human cost? To an extent, support staff can create an environment conducive to increasing the quality of healthcare delivery while maintaining costs. Though nurses are very much considered an integral part of the "staff" of any hospital or related facility, they were considered for many years "support staff" to the all-mighty physician. As a result, more and more studies where conducted to see what affect, if any, nurses had on the health of the patient and finances. The result was not only the elevation of nurses to the level of physicians, but also the need for specialized nurses (Czaplinski, 1998).

With the obvious need for highly trained support staff continues to increase, have we done enough to also give these individuals the tools to act as professionals? Though the level of education is not indicative of one's level of professionalism, it is easy to assume that similar individuals may simply not understand or posses the knowledge to understand the intricacies of what makes a healthcare professional. More specifically, the need to understand and follow the highest ethical standards. Though high ethical standards within traditional healthcare facilities (like hospitals) have become the norm for all staff, many "support staff" operating in non-traditional facilities do not received the same amount (if any) of ethical training required of healthcare professionals. Though we expect support staff to function at the level of any healthcare professional, why do we not provide them with the same tools and expectations?

References:
Czaplinski, C. , et al. (1998). The Effect of Staff Nursing on Length of Stay and Mortality. Medical Care. V36:12. pp. 1626-1638.