Medical Ethics

Physician responsibility extends beyond medical knowledge and implementation of evidence-based best practices; it includes understanding and conforming to a moral code of conduct initially articulated in Western medicine in the Hippocratic Oath. RAND research on medical ethics encompasses global complexities such as health disparities and health financing, as well as technology-fueled issues like cloning and end-of-life care.

Research conducted by: RAND Europe; RAND Health; Global Health; RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment; RAND Child Policy; RAND Law, Business, and Regulation

All Items (17)

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Clinical Decision Support and Malpractice Risk — Jun 30, 2011

Clinical decision support (CDS) refers to electronic technology used to enhance clinical decision making. The basic challenge for policymakers interested in promoting adoption of CDS is to ensure that liability concerns do not derail the clinical value of new CDS technology.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Bridging the Gap Between Basic Science and Clinical Practice: A Role for Community Clinicians — Apr 5, 2011

A paradigm shift involving acknowledgement of the value of clinicians in the context of community research, establishment of a stable infrastructure to support a cohort of clinicians across time and research studies, and realignment of incentives to encourage participation in clinical research is required.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Bridging the Gap Between Basic Science and Clinical Practice: The Role of Organizations in Addressing Clinician Barriers — Apr 3, 2011

New National Institutes of Health policies call for expansion of practice-based research to improve the clinical research enterprise and facilitate dissemination of evidence-based medicine. This paper describes organizational strategies that influence clinicians' decisions to participate in clinical research.

RESEARCH BRIEF

Does Improved Patient Safety Reduce Malpractice Litigation? — Apr 7, 2010

Investigates the relationship between safety outcomes in hospitals and malpractice claiming against providers, using data for California hospitals and insurers from 2001 through 2005.

REPORT

Guiding Good Research: Biomedical Research Ethics and Ethics Review: Observatory on Health Research Systems — Jan 28, 2008

Provides an overview of ethics and ethical reviews in biomedical research. The purpose of the document is to brief non-specialists on the key aspects of the evolution and current debate of biomedical research ethics and assessment of proposed research by ethics committees or review boards. The briefing highlights principle areas of consensus and tension, and outlines different approaches to the formal ethical scrutiny of proposed…

RESEARCH BRIEF

State Insurance Mandates and Consumer-Directed Health Plans: Are They Helping Small Business Provide Health Insurance to Employees? — Dec 5, 2007

This research brief describes the effects of state health-insurance mandates and consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) on the access to and affordability of health insurance for small businesses.

COMMENTARY

Afghanistan Without Doctors — Aug 12, 2004

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Commentary

RESEARCH BRIEF

Inside the Black Box of Managed Care Decisions: Understanding Patient Disputes over Coverage Denials — Dec 31, 2003

Research Brief

RESEARCH BRIEF

Changing the Medical Malpractice Dispute Process: What Have We Learned from California's MICRA? — Dec 31, 2003

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Cryopreserved Embryos in the United States and Their Availability for Research — Dec 31, 2002

To determine the number of embryos stored at assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics in the United States and their current disposition.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

American College of Epidemiology Ethics Guidelines: Foundations and Dissemination — Dec 31, 2002

The guidelines contain (and maintain) core elements that define the discipline of epidemiology and its fundamental duties, but they are also intended to be dynamic and evolving, responsive to a changing professional and social environment.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Rise of Litigation in Human Subjects Research — Dec 31, 2002

Owing to widespread public concern about the adequacy of protections for human research subjects and recent instances of serious injury to subjects at several major research institutions, lawsuits against investigators, institutional review boards, and academic institutions are becoming increasingly common. Several claim-promoting conditions are ripe to promote the further growth of this litigation and raise the stakes for research…

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Moral and Practical Challenges of Physician-Assisted Suicide — Dec 31, 2002

Physicians play an inescapable role in presenting and shaping health care decisions. Patients and families find it essential to rely on physicians when fear, lack of information, unfamiliarity, and other factors limit their independence and authority. Legalizing PAS threatens to make patients and families suspicious at a time when they would like to rely on a trusting relationship with their physician.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

The transplant imperative : protecting living donors from the pressure to donate — Dec 31, 1995

Full Document

JOURNAL ARTICLE

To Discharge or Not to Discharge, Ethics of Care for an Undocumented Immigrant — Dec 31, 1994

Recent debate over undocumented immigrants access to health care has centered on cost, but often ignores the ethical dilemma presented to providers, who are divided between their duty to the patients welfare and their role as gatekeeper in the distribution of society's health care resources.

REPORT

Rationing of Medical Services: Professional Ethics, Governmental Regulation, or Markets — Dec 31, 1979

A commentary on three papers presented at the American Enterprise Conference on Rationing of Medical Services. Examines medical services and the equity of health care: ...

Full Document

PEOPLE

Sandra H. Berry

Senior Behavioral Scientist; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School
M.A. in sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

Staff Profile

Medical Ethics

Contents:

All Items (17)

Clinical Decision Support and Malpractice Risk — Jun 30, 2011

Bridging the Gap Between Basic Science and Clinical Practice: A Role for Community Clinicians — Apr 5, 2011

Bridging the Gap Between Basic Science and Clinical Practice: The Role of Organizations in Addressing Clinician Barriers — Apr 3, 2011

Does Improved Patient Safety Reduce Malpractice Litigation? — Apr 7, 2010

Guiding Good Research: Biomedical Research Ethics and Ethics Review: Observatory on Health Research Systems — Jan 28, 2008

State Insurance Mandates and Consumer-Directed Health Plans: Are They Helping Small Business Provide Health Insurance to Employees? — Dec 5, 2007

Afghanistan Without Doctors — Aug 12, 2004

Inside the Black Box of Managed Care Decisions: Understanding Patient Disputes over Coverage Denials — Dec 31, 2003

Changing the Medical Malpractice Dispute Process: What Have We Learned from California's MICRA? — Dec 31, 2003

Cryopreserved Embryos in the United States and Their Availability for Research — Dec 31, 2002

American College of Epidemiology Ethics Guidelines: Foundations and Dissemination — Dec 31, 2002

The Rise of Litigation in Human Subjects Research — Dec 31, 2002

Moral and Practical Challenges of Physician-Assisted Suicide — Dec 31, 2002

The transplant imperative : protecting living donors from the pressure to donate — Dec 31, 1995

To Discharge or Not to Discharge, Ethics of Care for an Undocumented Immigrant — Dec 31, 1994

Rationing of Medical Services: Professional Ethics, Governmental Regulation, or Markets — Dec 31, 1979

Sandra H. Berry

My RAND ?

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Medical Ethics

Contents:

All Items (17)

Clinical Decision Support and Malpractice Risk — Jun 30, 2011

Bridging the Gap Between Basic Science and Clinical Practice: A Role for Community Clinicians — Apr 5, 2011

Bridging the Gap Between Basic Science and Clinical Practice: The Role of Organizations in Addressing Clinician Barriers — Apr 3, 2011

Does Improved Patient Safety Reduce Malpractice Litigation? — Apr 7, 2010

Guiding Good Research: Biomedical Research Ethics and Ethics Review: Observatory on Health Research Systems — Jan 28, 2008

State Insurance Mandates and Consumer-Directed Health Plans: Are They Helping Small Business Provide Health Insurance to Employees? — Dec 5, 2007

Afghanistan Without Doctors — Aug 12, 2004

Inside the Black Box of Managed Care Decisions: Understanding Patient Disputes over Coverage Denials — Dec 31, 2003

Changing the Medical Malpractice Dispute Process: What Have We Learned from California's MICRA? — Dec 31, 2003

Cryopreserved Embryos in the United States and Their Availability for Research — Dec 31, 2002

American College of Epidemiology Ethics Guidelines: Foundations and Dissemination — Dec 31, 2002

The Rise of Litigation in Human Subjects Research — Dec 31, 2002

Moral and Practical Challenges of Physician-Assisted Suicide — Dec 31, 2002

The transplant imperative : protecting living donors from the pressure to donate — Dec 31, 1995

To Discharge or Not to Discharge, Ethics of Care for an Undocumented Immigrant — Dec 31, 1994

Rationing of Medical Services: Professional Ethics, Governmental Regulation, or Markets — Dec 31, 1979

Sandra H. Berry

My RAND ?

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Senior Behavioral Scientist

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