Ethical decision making by senior executives in health care

The purpose of this study was to describe the ethical decision-making processes of seven healthcare executives in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. All of the participants were CEO's of healthcare systems. The research methodology was a qualitative, heuristic phenomenological approach. The research questions that were answered included the following: (a) What issues do senior healthcare executives consider to have ethical components? (b) What is important for senior healthcare executives to think about when making ethical decisions? (c) What processes do senior executives in health care use when practicing ethical decision-making? Who is involved and how? and, (d) What process is used to evaluate the factors/motives used in decision-making and the outcome of the decision?;An ethical decision-making framework was developed based on Bernard Lonergan's Philosophy of human cognition and was used as a guide in the development of interview questions. Senior executives reported that most issues they face have ethical implications. Ethical decision-making was not viewed by the participants as an individual process, but as one that consists of a team coming to consensus for organizational decisions. The participants indicated that they do not have a formal process for evaluating factors/motives used in ethical decision-making and the outcome of the decision.;Having an evaluation process is a critical element in ethical decision-making and the application of an ethical decision-making model would assist in making ethical decisions. Due to the findings of this study, it is clear that the topic warrants additional study.