Management of Care

Being Sam’s physician means that I have to respect his wishes and allow him to decide on what to do about his health. It is also a personal right and obligation to try and offer guidance, like asking him to consider therapy before undertaking any measures. Physicians are supposed to educate their patients about procedures, including the risks and benefits. Sam should also have time to think about his decision, including analyses to determine whether he is of sound mind or affected by any psychological or mental health issue. Sam should also be informed that the Medical Power of Attorney does not allow physicians to act as witnesses (Bruce et al., 2018). As Sam’s physician, I will make sure not to disclose his decision about his health to his wife without his permission.

My obligation to the patient as his healthcare provider is to ensure that no harm comes to him in terms of his health. A physician must provide emergency medical care whenever necessary. A physician has the responsibility of taking care of the patient’s wellbeing and upholding ethical duties. Ethical obligations make sure that patients do not receive any kind of discrimination based on gender, age, sex, or culture. A physician’s duty to their patient also includes respecting their wishes about their health and wellbeing. The physician is also obligated to provide treatment to the patient, telling them the risks and benefits of undertaking a procedure and offering alternative treatment plans. The physician has to maintain confidentiality regarding their patient’s personal information unless with their consent.

According to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, a physician can share relevant information regarding a patient’s care to their spouse if the patient chooses or if the information is directly relevant to their involvement (Dagher et al., 2018). A doctor is only allowed to break the rule of autonomy if the information being withheld by the patient can cause harm to those involved, for example, withholding one’s HIV status to a spouse. However, this information is supposed to get relayed to the relevant person by the public health authorities. In this case, discussing Sam’s wishes with his wife is unethical and not allowed. Sam’s wife can intervene in his medical conditions if he indeed is diagnosed with a mental health issue. Personal obligations as a physical state that one needs to maintain ethical responsibilities to patients. All actions performed by the physician should aim at a patient’s welfare, either by treating or preventing diseases. Ethical obligations require a physician to maintain justice, non-maleficence, autonomy, and beneficence. The only time doctors are allowed to refuse to treat patients is in cases where patients are violent in any form, are intoxicated, and those who refuse treatment.

In this case, Sam’s needs are the most important and should be taken into consideration. Physicians only have an obligation towards their patients. The health practitioner should respect Sam’s decision about his health and wellbeing according to law and ethics. Veracity ensures trust between health practitioners and their patients through honesty (Amer, 2019). A physician builds this kind of relationship by being honest and truthful about the patient’s diagnosis, including treatment options, benefits, risks, costs, and alternatives.

On the other hand, autonomy is an ethical value in health that allows a patient to make decisions that best suit their interests.  In this case, as a physician, honesty about the patient’s condition is provided to him and his spouse, according to his wishes (Blasimme & Vayena, 2016). However, this case does not require me to reveal the patient’s decision to the spouse without his consent. As a physician, I must respect what Sam wishes to do regarding his healthcare needs.

References

Amer, A. B. (2019). The ethics of veracity and is important in medical ethics. Open Journal of Nursing, 09(02), 194-198. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojn.2019.92019

Blasimme, A., & Vayena, E. (2016). Becoming partners, retaining autonomy: Ethical considerations on the development of precision medicine. BMC Medical Ethics, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-016-0149-6

Bruce, C. R., Bibler, T., Childress, A., & Fedson, S. (2018). Legislating medicine. Critical Care Medicine, 46(5), 788-790. https://doi.org/10.1097/ccm.0000000000002941

Dagher, G. G., Mohler, J., Milojkovic, M., & Marella, P. B. (2018). Ancile: Privacy-preserving framework for access control and interoperability of electronic health records using blockchain technology. Sustainable Cities and Society, 39, 283-297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2018.02.014

Hasan Tehrani, T., Seyed Bagher Maddah, S., Fallahi-Khoshknab, M., Ebadi, A., Mohammadi Shahboulaghi, F., & Gillespie, M. (2018). Respecting the privacy of hospitalized patients: An integrative review. Nursing Ethics, 096973301875983. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733018759832