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- Title
AN ETHICAL APPROACH TO ACCREDITATION STANDARDS FOR HOSPITALS IN ROMANIA. THE NEED FOR ETHICS AUDIT TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF CARE FOR PATIENTS.
- Authors
Agheorghiesei(Corodeanu), Daniela Tatiana; Dabija, Marius; Copoeru, Ion
- Abstract
In 2011, Romania joined other EU countries in making accreditation of hospital units. In the first quarter of 2012, five of 459 hospitals were accredited, while others were under evaluation. Our research aims to analyse from an ethical perspective the hospital accreditation standards as they are applied by the National Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (CoNAS). The starting point of our inquiry is the relationship between quality (followed by accreditation) and ethics, supported by many authors and experts. The research consists, firstly, in a broad review of the literature and best practices and, secondly, in the ethical-philosophical analysis of the 11 referential categories employed in the evaluation of hospitals in Romania. The qualitative analysis revealed that, by their nature and purpose, many of the accreditation standards are able to cover, to a certain extent, the moral obligations of the institution in accordance with its clinic mission, but in a formal way. Therefore, they do not provide a true picture of the concerns from the point of view of the ethics' management. Consequently, the results of an ethical audit integrated into the accreditation process (or organized simultaneously) have to be taken into account. This approach, which introduces institutional ethics evaluation criteria, may be useful in the efforts to improve the performance of hospital facilities. Moreover, it can also provide a plausible argument for the classification of hospitals and a fairer allocation of resources, i.e. not only on grounds of cost effectiveness.
- Subjects
ROMANIA; HOSPITAL accreditation standards; HOSPITALS &; ethics; HEALTH facility accreditation standards; MEDICAL care research
- Publication
Revista Romana de Bioetica, 2014, Vol 12, Issue 2, p70
- ISSN
1583-5170
- Publication type
Article