Ethics and patient safety: Should you tell patients they can get better care elsewhere?

Earlier today I was reading a posting on the topic of ethical responsibilities from one of our sister publications, HealthLeaders Media and was struck by how the topic directly relates to patient safety. The question at hand is If we have the opportunity to tell patients about the possibility of receiving higher quality care at another organization nearby, should we do so? The question puts two competing ideas against each other: the need to care for patients to the best of our ability, even if that means directing them elsewhere, and the need to also keep our own hospital functioning by caring for patients. Of course, this question is inextricably linked to the topic of money and payment which makes it increasingly more difficult to answer.

The HealthLeaders column, written by Jay Moore, brings up that often, the answer is complex simply because there are so many different ways to measure quality care within healthcare.

Data inaccuracies abound and it’s often difficult for both patients and those who work in healthcare to discern which studies give adequate pictures of quality care. However, Moore points out that laying out all of a patient’s options for care and offering analyisis on the data to which you can speak is a must if your facility’s mission is to keep patients safe, and that is usually at the heart of most hospital’s being.

Be sure to check out the column!