The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHCO) requires hospitals and other health care organizations it accredits to establish  mechanisms for formulating ethics policies and addressing ethical conflicts for patients and organizations. Responsibilities are usually vested largely within Ethics Committees although organizational/business ethics is gaining a higher profile. Even if an institution is not accredited by JCAHCO, the use of an Ethics Committee has become common throughout the health care sector.  As such, its structure, the preparation of its members, its practices and concerns are a primary vehicle for addressing medical ethics in institutions. A Committee’s actions, or in-actions, can directly impact the concerns and moral distress experienced by the majority of patients, families, clinicians and staff in a clinical setting.  For that reason, information related to a well functioning Ethics Committes and its consultation process is a primary focus of many of the Resources provided on this site. An understanding of the competencies expected in an ethics consultation is provided by the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities in their Core Competencies for Health Care Ethics Consultation.

One approach to an ethics consultation is provided by ABN in Organizing an Ethics Consult.

Another resource is the National Center for Ethics in Health Care (Ethics Center) of the Veteran’s Health Administration.  It addresses ”the complex ethical issues that arise in patient care, health care management, and research.” The Ethics Center’s mission is to clarify and promote ethical health care practices throughout VHA and nationwide. It offers information specific to ethics committees and ethics consultations. Their program of IntegratedEthics offers practical, user-friendly tools to help health care leaders and staff: respond to ethical questions at the level of actions and decisions through Ethics Consultation; address ethics quality gaps at the level of systems and processes by applying a quality improvement approach in Preventive Ethics; and foster a strong ethical environment and culture through Ethical Leadership.” Explore the site to find useful tools you can use for your ethics committee.