Hospital Discharge Planning Carrying Out Orders?

Social workers working in hospital discharge planning face recurrent conflicts between patients' rights and the pressures of managed care. What should professionals do when confronted with orders that violate their conscience even where they do not violate the law? Exemptions for hardship or re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of gerontological social work Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 107 - 118
Main Author Moody, Harry R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Taylor & Francis Group 25.08.2004
Taylor & Francis LLC
Subjects
Bioethics
carrying out orders
Discharge
Discharge planning
Ethics
Hospitals
Managed care
Managed Care Services
Medical Decision Making
Patient admissions
Patients Rights
Social Workers
truth-telling
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Summary:Social workers working in hospital discharge planning face recurrent conflicts between patients' rights and the pressures of managed care. What should professionals do when confronted with orders that violate their conscience even where they do not violate the law? Exemptions for hardship or religious identity may or may not provide a basis for case-by-case decision-making. When confronted by ethical conflicts, discharge planners may be tempted to manipulate diagnostic categories in order to prolong a hospital stay. A better approach is to change policy at the institutional level so that professionals are not faced with a choice between sacrificing themselves or following ethical standards as patients prepare to leave the hospital.
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ISSN:0163-4372
1540-4048
DOI:10.1300/J083v43n01_08