Abstract
BackgroundNo published curricula in the area of medical business ethics exist. This is surprising given that physicians wrestle daily with business decisions and that professional associations, the Institute of Medicine, Health and Human Services, Congress, and industry have issued related guidelines over the past 5 years. To fill this gap, the authors aimed (1) to identify the full range of medical business ethics topics that experts consider important to teach, and (2) to establish curricular priorities through expert consensus.MethodsIn spring 2012, the authors conducted an online Delphi survey with two heterogeneous panels of experts recruited in the United States. One panel focused on business ethics in medical practice (n = 14), and 1 focused on business ethics in medical research (n = 12).ResultsPanel 1 generated an initial list of 14 major topics related to business ethics in medical practice, and subsequently rated 6 topics as very important or essential to teach. Panel 2 generated an initial list of 10 major topics related to business ethics in medical research, and subsequently rated 5 as very important or essential. In both domains, the panel strongly recommended addressing problems that conflicts of interest can cause, legal guidelines, and the goals or ideals of the profession.ConclusionsThe Bander Center for Medical Business Ethics at Saint Louis University will use the results of the Delphi panel to develop online curricular resources for each of the highest rated topics.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1472-6920-14-235) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
No published curricula in the area of medical business ethics exist
While courses in medical ethics have been an established part of the medical curriculum for more than a decade [19,20], these courses have traditionally focused on matters of clinical ethics with limited regard for the impact financial factors can have on clinical care
Project design and panelists Two national Delphi consensus panels were conducted by the Bander Center for Medical Business Ethics at Saint Louis University using online surveys hosted in Qualtrics, which is an online survey software system that is HIPAA compliant. (The software system is available from Qualtrics LLC, Provo, UT through www.qualtrics.com, site accessed August 13, 2014.) Participants accessed the survey through unique links, and survey administrators accessed data via a password protected website
Summary
No published curricula in the area of medical business ethics exist This is surprising given that physicians wrestle daily with business decisions and that professional associations, the Institute of Medicine, Health and Human Services, Congress, and industry have issued related guidelines over the past 5 years. A recent Institute of Medicine report estimates that annually up to 30% ($765 billion) of health care costs are potentially avoidable: nearly $210 billion may be attributable to unnecessary services provided by physicians and $55 billion attributable to missed prevention opportunities [1] Against this background, the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine and the American College of Physicians collaborated in producing a curriculum for residents focused on incorporating high-value, cost-conscious care principles into their clinical practice [2]. Physicians struggle with questions of business ethics on a day-today basis as they decide whether to use newer more expensive treatments, respond to demands from hospital administrators and practice managers, collaborate with device representatives, or decide whether to enroll a patient in a clinical trial [21,22]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
