Essay On Consequentialism And Utilitarianism In Health Care

Leadership constantly presents challenges to both the leader’s abilities and morality. Things change, and change brings about challenges, and along with challenges, leaders are confronted with decisions to make in order to adapt to these changes. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is one change that has significantly impacted healthcare in the United States. The issue of health care reform brings important ethical issues to the forefront, as individuals, communities and leaders struggle with how to provide quality and affordable health care for the many without sacrificing the basic rights of the few. Health care leaders and providers face now, more than ever, the difficult task of making ethical decisions that would benefit the patient in the best way possible. There is no one ethical theory or principle that is free of criticism. For this paper, Consequentialism and Utilitarianism will be mentioned and discussed. …show more content…
Consequentialism evaluates the morality of actions in terms of progress toward a goal or end, the greatest good for the greatest number. The morality or goodness of an act is judged by its consequences without consideration of the intent. On the other hand, Utilitarianism defines morality in terms of maximization of the net utility expected for all parties affected by a decision or action. The morality of an act is judged by its utility or usefulness for the most people. The two concepts are very similar, hence considered synonyms by Morrison and Furlong.
Among the types of consequentialism, rule consequentialism is most useful for health care leaders. Under this concept, behavior is evaluated by rules that would lead to the greatest good for the greatest number. Leaders and managers of the modern day would call these rules