Fair Healthcare Practices in Orthopedics Assessed with a New Framework

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Healthcare systems are supported by the European ideology to develop their egalitarian concerns and to encourage the correct and fair behavior of medical staff. By integrating fair healthcare practices into sustainability, this requirement is addressed. In this research, our objective is to develop and validate, in the current activity of healthcare facilities, a new instrument for evaluating fair healthcare practices as a component of social responsibility integrated into sustainability. Materials and Methods: The research methods consist of deciding the domains of a new framework that integrates fair healthcare practices; the collection of the most recent fair healthcare practices reported by healthcare facilities around the world; elaboration of the contents and evaluation grids of the indicators; the integration of indicators related to fair healthcare practices in the matrix of the new framework for sustainable development; validation of the theoretical model at an orthopedic hospital. Results: The theoretical model of the new framework is composed of five domains: organizational management, provision of sustainable medical care services, economic, environmental, and social. The last domain is developed on the structure of the seven subdomains of the social responsibility standard ISO 26000. The seven indicators that describe fair healthcare practices are attitudes of the profession towards accreditation, effective intervention application, promoting a culture of patient safety, characteristics that affect the effectiveness of transfers, effective healthcare practices, feedback to medical staff, safety checklists. The new reference framework was implemented and validated in practice at an emergency hospital with an orthopedic profile. Conclusions: The practical implementation highlighted the usefulness of the new reference framework, its compatibility, and the possibility of integration with the reference frameworks for the evaluation of European hospitals, with the national legislation for the accreditation of hospitals and outpatient units, as well as with the ISO 9001 standard regarding the implementation of quality management systems. Its added value consists in promoting sustainable development by orienting staff, patients, and interested parties towards sustainability.

Assessment of Patient Matters in Healthcare Facilities

“…Considering this identified requirement, we established the domains of the new reference framework Health-Sustainability (H-S), so that there is support and compatibility with existing international [13] and national models [14,15] which healthcare facilities apply routinely. The subject of this research on assessment of patient matters with the support of an innovative framework continues the authors' research from a previous article [16] in which we established the fields of the new Health-Sustainability (H-S) reference framework and based on which we investigated fair healthcare practices. For this reason, in the present study in which we investigated patient matters, we took from the previous research the domains of the new reference framework for the sustainability of health facilities (H-S): economic, environmental, social, provision of sustainable medical care services, and management processes (Figure 1) [16].…”

“…The subject of this research on assessment of patient matters with the support of an innovative framework continues the authors' research from a previous article [16] in which we established the fields of the new Health-Sustainability (H-S) reference framework and based on which we investigated fair healthcare practices. For this reason, in the present study in which we investigated patient matters, we took from the previous research the domains of the new reference framework for the sustainability of health facilities (H-S): economic, environmental, social, provision of sustainable medical care services, and management processes (Figure 1) [16]. These are necessary to ensure the commitment of management that can direct medical staff to ensure the quality and sustainability of medical services.…”

“…In previous research, indicator matrices along with indicator contents are introduced in the following areas of social responsibility: human rights [19], labor practices [75], environment [73], and fair healthcare practices [16]. This research details the patient issues area of social responsibility and the eight indicators that make up its composition.…”

An Orthopedic Healthcare Facility Governance Assessed with a New Indicator System

“…The innovative aspect proposed in this research deals with social aspects in accordance with the seven requirements of the social responsibility standard ISO 26000 [16]. Social aspects were adapted to the basic processes of the hospital regarding the provision of sustainable healthcare services, as follows, healthcare facility governance, human rights [17], labor practices [18], environment [19], fair healthcare practices [20], patient matters [21], and community involvement and development (Figure 2). Corresponding to the content of medical activities, in our model, we ordered the 4 stages of the quality cycle in accordance with the requirements of the ISO9001 quality assurance standard [22].…”

Exploring Ethical Challenges in Orthopedic Practice

“…Beyond orthopedic practice, the health-care industry faces numerous ethical challenges, including patient rights, conflicts of interest, and access to care. [ 4 , 6 ] Addressing these challenges requires a commitment to ethical integrity and the promotion of equitable health-care policies. Orthopedic surgeons play a crucial role in advocating for ethical practices and policies that prioritize patient welfare.…”