Content area
Abstract
"Organization ethics" represents a new approach to the consideration of ethics in organizations, particularly healthcare organizations (HCO). Unlike previous alternative approaches to ethics in institutions, this approach focuses on the ethical climate of the entire organization, an ethical climate which encompasses and integrates all other ethics resources and activities within the organization. Until the recent increase in attention to HCOs by federal authorities, ethics programs within these institutions have been primarily focused on ethics issues related to the care of individual patients. The advent and rapid market penetration of managed care has changed these perceptions. HCOs have had to become more aware of the ethical issues related to their business functions. Their response mechanism is called "organizational ethics" and is already an important primary responsibility of the HCO; a responsibility that, if ignored, can adversely affect the HCO both in its role as a business and as a healthcare provider.