Rights and ethics are often flipsides of the same coin. If individual rights in healthcare are derived from one or more ethical principles, they help to achieve an acceptable outcome for the patient and the healthcare system. Because individuals’ rights and access to healthcare influence the decision making related to policies and laws, it is essential to understand and address them. Similarly, it is equally important to understand and incorporate ethical practices in healthcare, because these practices impact stakeholders in healthcare.
In this discussion, you will compare and contrast the healthcare rights and needs of individuals with the rights and needs of public health systems, as well as explain the impact of ethics and the need to understand an individual’s right and access to healthcare when making health policy decisions. This discussion will also help to prepare you to complete Project Two.
In your initial post, share your perspective on the following prompts. Use either a utilitarian or a deontological ethical framework to support your perspective:
Describe whether you believe healthcare is a right or a privilege.
Describe how your view addresses the rights and needs of individuals versus the rights and needs of public health systems.
Describe the need to understand individuals’ rights and access in health policy decisions.
Describe how your chosen ethical model impacts stakeholders’ influence on health policy decisions.
Reading: Essentials of Health Policy and Law, Chapter 6