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CHAPTER 2 Autonomy 73274_Morrison_Ch02.qxd 9/11/09 7:41 AM Page 27 © Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION CHAPTER 2 Autonomy He alone is free who lives with free consent under the guidance of reason. —Spinoza Points to Ponder 1. What are the key issues for the healthcare administrator (HCA) with respect to informed consent? 2. How does HIPAA change the way you view confidentiality? 3. Is it ever appropriate to withhold the truth from a patient? 4. What is the significance of fidelity to the success of HCAs? Words to Remember The following is a list of key words for this chapter. You will find them in bold in the text. Stop and check your understanding of them. authorization competence disclosure fidelity informed consent reasonable person standard veracity voluntariness I INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS Autonomy is one of the four major principles of healthcare ethics that are derived from the theories you studied in Chapter 1. In this chapter, you will explore the meaning of this principle and its application to healthcare practice. Current concepts of autonomy stem from its Greek definition as self-rule and self-determination (Beauchamp & 73274_Morrison_Ch02.qxd 9/11/09 7:41 AM Page 28 © Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 28 CHAPTER 2 AUTONOMY Childress, 2008). The healthcare system’s position on this principle is supported by Kant, Frankl, and others who believe that because people have unconditional worth and should be given respect, they also deserve self-determination. To be applied, the principle of autonomy must assume that you are free from the control of others and have the capacity to make your own life choices. You also must have the right to hold views that are incon- gruent with those of the healthcare establishment. For example, if you are a Jehovah’s Witness and do not believe in blood transfusions, you have the right to refuse such treatment even when your physician rec- ommends it. The word “choice” is a key element in this principle. How does this relate to your position in health care? As an administrator, you must understand that people should be free to choose whether to be compliant with their physician’s instructions or not. They must also be able to make informed decisions about signing consent forms for surgery or other procedures without undue influence or punitive reper- cussions from medical staff. You will learn more about the complexities of autonomy as informed consent later in the chapter. Autonomy is more than just making informed choices. It is also concerned with how individuals are viewed and treated within the healthcare system. If autonomy is an ethical principle for your organi- zation, then certain standards should prevail. In this chapter, you will explore some of these standards including autonomy as confidentiality. You will also examine how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Title II) (HIPAA) rules have increased the awareness of the need to protect this area. Autonomy as truth-telling is also included in this chapter; you will learn what telling the truth means in healthcare situations. Finally, you will explore autonomy as expressed as fidelity and learn what it means to keep your word to patients and employees. A summary will be included to reinforce the key concepts of the chapter. You will then be able to apply your knowledge of this principle to two cases that are based on real-world healthcare incidents. I AUTONOMY AS INFORMED CONSENT Legal and ethical considerations come together when applied in the area of informed consent for treatment. Through case law and legisla- tion, informed consent has come to be seen as the duty of physicians or their designees to obtain the patient’s permission for treatment. This permission should be given only after the patient understands the treat- ment and supports its implementation. Failure to obtain permission can constitute negligence or even lead to medical malpractice actions. From a larger view, informed consent is an ethical issue because it requires 73274_Morrison_Ch02.qxd 9/11/09 7:41 AM Page 29 © Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Autonomy as Informed Consent 29 respect for the autonomy of individuals and their right to choose what is done to their bodies. Autonomous consent is implied through a person’s actions. For example, if you make an appointment with your dentist and keep that appointment, it is implied that you consent to treatment. However, if a procedure must be used that is not routine, then there is an ethical (and often legal) duty to obtain specific written consent. What is meant by informed consent? Beauchamp and Childress (2008) present a model that clarifies this term and serves as a basis for discussion. This type of permission to treat contains the preconditions of competence on the part of the patient to understand the treatment, and voluntariness in his or her decision-making. It also requires disclo- sure on the part of the physician of material information including the recommended treatment plan. Finally, consent means that the patient is in favor of the plan and gives his or her authorization to proceed. The idea of competence is not a simple one in health care. In general, it is assumed that adults are competent to make decisions about their health but that children are not. However, adults can be in situations where they are not deemed competent. This includes incidents when they are unconscious, mentally ill, or under the influence of drugs. There are exceptions to the child rule, too. Children can be deemed competent when they are legally emancipated from their parents. In these nonrou- tine circumstances, healthcare professionals can need additional guid- ance about informed consent, and the physician’s responsibilities through policies, procedures, and training programs that are provided by the institution in which they practice. Voluntariness means that the person is not under the influence or control of another person when making a decision. This means that he or she is not threatened or forced into treatment. While this sounds bizarre, there are occasions when patients can think they are being forced into treatment by healthcare professionals or other parties. In even more rare occurrences, the patients are actually threatened to undergo treatment by physicians presenting dire consequences if they do not. Whether the situation is actual or perceived, these patients do not freely choose to participate in the treatment. The use of threats or the perception of a threat means that an autonomous decision by the patient is not possible. Similarly, if a healthcare professional tries to manipulate a person into consenting to treatment, this negates autonomy. For example, suppose a researcher needs a certain number of subjects in order to maintain fund- ing for his study. This researcher finds a suitable subject and promises him or her that there are benefits for participation in the study. The sub- ject then signs a consent form, without knowledge of the researcher’s true agenda. This manipulation of study information is unethical and removes the voluntary element from the process of informed decision-making. 73274_Morrison_Ch02.qxd 9/11/09 7:41 AM Page 30 © Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 30 CHAPTER 2 AUTONOMY Disclosure is a major element in both legal and ethical aspects of informed consent. It can appear to be a very simple thing to disclose information about a patient’s condition, the methods of treatment, and alternatives for that treatment. However, this does not always happen. Many states now require what is called a reasonable person standard with respect to what should be disclosed in order to obtain consent. This means that there is an obligation to present enough information so that a “reasonable person” would be able to make an informed deci- sion about the procedure. Adhering to this guideline poses some ethical issues, particularly in sophisticated and often expensive research stud- ies. If a researcher is too zealous in making statements about the antici- pated benefits versus the risks of the study, the subjects might choose not to participate. This could lead to expensive searches for subjects or even a loss of funding for the research. In order for patients to make an informed decision about their healthcare options, a recommendation must be made by the health professional. Recommendations must include all of the options avail- able for the patient and the practitioner’s best assessment of the best choice. Even this part of informed consent is not without difficulty. For example, there are alternative treatments, such as the use of herbs or holistic medicine, that have proven to be effective but are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration or fully recognized by the medical community. If the physician does not support the use of such forms of treatment, he or she might not present these options to the patient. Another complexity of disclosure occurs in the case of managed care. The physician’s recommendation cannot be based solely on the covered treatments in the plan. The patient should be informed of the costs of other existing treatments so he or she can decide if he or she is able to pay for them if the treatments are not covered by his or her health maintenance organization. Making efforts to ensure the patient understands the disclosures and the treatment plan is an ethics obligation if you are seeking informed consent. News about a medical condition and required treatment can evoke an emotional response on the part of the patient that affects his or her ability to make sound decisions.
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