MHA Professionalism and Ethics 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A patient requests that information about a terminal diagnosis be withheld from them and shared only with their family. An ethically appropriate response is to:
- Refuse, as patients always have the right to know their diagnosis
- Honor the patient's autonomous choice to limit the information they receive (Correct answer)
- Report the family for undue influence over the patient
- Provide the diagnosis information regardless of the patient's wishes
Correct answer: Honor the patient's autonomous choice to limit the information they receive
Autonomy includes the right not to receive information; a competent patient's documented request to limit disclosure must be respected.
Question 2: Which concept describes the ethical obligation of healthcare administrators to be answerable to stakeholders for their decisions and actions?
- Transparency
- Accountability (Correct answer)
- Fidelity
- Veracity
Correct answer: Accountability
Accountability is the obligation of administrators to answer to their organization, patients, communities, and regulators for the outcomes of their decisions.
Question 3: In the context of organizational ethics, a 'just culture' in healthcare refers to:
- A culture that punishes all staff errors equally
- A balanced environment that holds individuals accountable while also addressing systemic causes of errors (Correct answer)
- A culture in which no one is disciplined for any error
- A legal compliance program focused on regulatory adherence
Correct answer: A balanced environment that holds individuals accountable while also addressing systemic causes of errors
Just culture distinguishes between honest mistakes, at-risk behavior, and reckless behavior, addressing both individual accountability and system-level error causes.
Question 4: An administrator is approached by a news outlet seeking details about a patient involved in a high-profile case. The ethically required response is to:
- Provide general information if the patient is already publicly known
- Decline to confirm or disclose any patient information without proper authorization (Correct answer)
- Refer the reporter to the treating physician for comment
- Verify only non-clinical details such as admission dates
Correct answer: Decline to confirm or disclose any patient information without proper authorization
HIPAA and professional ethics prohibit disclosing any patient information to media without explicit patient authorization, regardless of the patient's public profile.
Question 5: The 'reasonable person standard' in healthcare ethics is used MOST often to evaluate:
- Whether a physician's clinical judgment met the standard of care
- Whether the information disclosed during informed consent was sufficient for a patient to make a decision (Correct answer)
- Whether a compliance officer acted within regulatory guidelines
- Whether an administrator's financial decisions were prudent
Correct answer: Whether the information disclosed during informed consent was sufficient for a patient to make a decision
The reasonable person standard asks whether the information provided in informed consent would be sufficient for a reasonable person to make an informed decision.
Question 6: Which of the following BEST exemplifies the concept of fidelity as an ethical principle in healthcare administration?
- Ensuring financial audits are conducted annually
- Keeping promises made to staff, patients, and the community (Correct answer)
- Distributing resources equitably across patient populations
- Refusing to disclose confidential board discussions
Correct answer: Keeping promises made to staff, patients, and the community
Fidelity means faithfulness to commitments and promises; in healthcare administration, this includes honoring obligations to staff, patients, and the community.
Question 7: When designing an organization-wide ethics training program, an MHA-trained administrator would MOST likely prioritize:
- Annual legal compliance modules only
- Scenario-based training that integrates ethical frameworks with real organizational dilemmas (Correct answer)
- Training exclusively for clinical staff since they face patient-care decisions
- One-time orientation training with no ongoing reinforcement
Correct answer: Scenario-based training that integrates ethical frameworks with real organizational dilemmas
Effective ethics training uses realistic scenarios grounded in the organization's context and is reinforced continuously, not delivered only once or limited to clinical staff.
MHA Professionalism and Ethics 5
A patient requests that information about a terminal diagnosis be withheld from them and shared only with their family.
An ethically appropriate response is to: