Worksheet: Ethical Decision-Making in Healthcare Marketing
For this task, you will first compare the ACHE and AHIMA code of ethics and then review a brief case from Healthcare Marketing: A Case Study that involves ethical decision making. Then, you will discuss the role of the healthcare marketer in relation to ethical behavior and conduct.
To begin, read Chapter 4 in Healthcare Marketing: A Case Study Approach and review the Chapter 4, Exercise 1: Ethical decision-making. In addition, review the other Module Three resources on ethics. Then, complete the worksheet fields below.
Note: Be sure to refer back to this worksheet (and your instructor feedback to it), as you consider the ethical criteria that will be used to guide the marketing and communication decisions that you will include in your final healthcare marketing and communication plan.
Part I. Code of Ethics
Access the webpages American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Code of Ethics (https://www.ache.org/about-ache/our-story/our-commitments/ethics) and American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Code of Ethics (https://learn.snhu.edu/d2l/lor/viewer/view.d2l?ou=6606&loIdentId=6402). Compare the code of ethics from these two organizations. What do they have in common? In what ways are they different?
Part II. Chapter Exercise: Ethical Decision Making
Answer the following using Exercise 1 from Chapter 4.
Ch. 4 Exercise 4
1. Ethical decision making You are the marketing officer at Sullivans Island Medical University. Three employees work in your departmentyou, the marketing director (your boss, who oversees all marketing/public relations duties), and the marketing media officer (your colleague, who oversees all communications to external audiences). You oversee all in-house communications (i.e., for audiences inside the medical school). Currently, you are writing articles about new residents who have just arrived at Sullivans Island Medical University for their surgical rotations. Your articles will be published in the in-house newsletter Take Note in a recurring section titled Welcome to Our New Docs. The articles about the new residents include their educational background and some personal information, such as marital status, the names and ages of their children, and their hobbies. To prepare for your interview with resident Patricia Gray, you google her name and find her Facebook page. The photos, captions, and comments on her page indicate that she is a big partier; in several of the photos, she obviously is drinking alcohol. One photo shows her pouring champagne on the head of another woman. Another shows her holding a beer can in one hand and giving the thumbs-up signal with the other. Moreover, she uses profanity throughout her posts. a. In your position as a marketer in a hospital, do you think Dr. Grays Facebook page is an issue that warrants your attention? Why or why not? b. With reference to the four quadrants model presented in Exhibit 4.1, define where you think this scenario should be classified.
c. Using one of the ethical decision-making models explained in the chapter, explain how you would address this situation. d. How do you think the AMA policy about physicians and the use of social media (summarized at the top of page 52) relates to Dr. Grays Facebook page?
In your position as a marketer in a hospital, do you think Dr. Grays Facebook page is an issue that warrants your attention? Why or why not? Please explain in detail.
Review the four quadrants model presented in Exhibit 4.1. How might you define this scenario based on the model? Explain your reasoning.
Using one of the ethical decision-making models in the chapter, please explain how you would address this situation.
How do you think the AMA policy about physicians and the use of social media (summarized at the top of page 52) relates to Dr. Grays Facebook page?
Part III. What do you think is the ultimate role of the healthcare marketer in relation to ethical behavior and conduct?
