Ethical Decision Making in Resource Allocation Equity in the Military Health Services System.
Abstract
The Department of Defense is in the process of restructuring the Military Health Services System (MHSS) and modifying the resource allocation process. This paper examines ethics, primarily the concept of equity, as it relates to the MHSS both before and after the restructuring. Rationing, implicit versus explicit, is discussed. The paper concludes that greater equity in the delivery of care through the MHSS should be achieved through the restructuring process and the implementation of managed health care concepts. When ethical dilernmas in health care are discussed, conversations quickly begin revolving around patient-physician centered interactions, e.g., use of experimental drugs, euthanasia, abortion and more recently, genetic engineering. But health care administrators, be they in the policy or operational (hospital/clinic) arenas, have a poterftially greater impact, for good or harm, on the ethical functioning of the health care system.1 Health care ethics include social issues arising from the pursuit of health, such as equal access and methods of financing health care, as well as the actions proper to the patient-physician relationship.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA288475
Entities
People
- Debra A. Cerha
Organizations
- Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy