Please Answer
How has technology influenced ethical decision-making in healthcare?
After your answer, On a separate page Give your opinion in two different paragraphs to Tiah Denton and Tiffany Laubach
Tiah Denton
Technology has influenced ethical decision-making in healthcare by the rapidly changing medical technology and availability of high tech and changing practices of doctors over the course of time have evolved the way healthcare is being produced today. Today’s medical technology is more advanced, more effective, and also more costly than ever before. This makes the healthcare industry have an increasing demand for high technology diagnostic facilities to have a conflict with medical necessity and social justice which all tie into ethics. Current trends in health care decision-making support a transition from a rationale based primarily on resources and opinion to a rationale derived from research.
It is important to recognize the impact of developing a new healthcare technology within the healthcare system. Demands for increased productivity despite small financial resources bring up cost-effectiveness in healthcare. Most issues within decision-making are cost versus benefit analysis. It is very difficult to place a dollar value on a person’s life especially when it comes to decisions made within healthcare.
The ethical issues on medical technology and availability are broad. Before any technological changes were made ethics and medicine were not often in conflict. The providing physician would attempt to save lives when he or she could, but the technology was limited so this made practicing more along the lines of ethics. Now since technology is available and constantly changing, physicians have the option to keep life going for unknown periods, undermining distinctions between life and death.
Resources
Kent DL, Larson EB. Disease, level of impact, and quality of research methods. 2012 p. 245-248
Soza H. Reducing medical errors through technology. Cost Qual 2000; p. 24-25