Ethical considerations of giving patients choices.
Customer service is becoming the watchword if companies are to remain competitive. This direction toward customer service has promoted the development of patient-centered services in the healthcare industry. However, creating these services is not easy. This article discusses the application of ethical principles in designing a patient-centered approach from the experience of a university hospital. It addresses some of the issues that a hospital must consider while working to become more user friendly for its "customers": its patients and their family members and visitors.
University of Utah Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT.
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Smith
D004991:Ethics, Institutional; D015285:Hospital-Patient Relations; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000639:trends*; D028701:Patient Rights; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D014589:Utah