Smith M L
Trends Health Care Law Ethics. 1994 Spring;9(2):7-10.
Ethics committees are fairly common in healthcare institutions in the United States. Comprised of a multidisciplinary membership, including physicians, their functions within institutions are generally threefold: policy recommendation, ethics education and case consultation. The number of such committees will grow as a result of "Patient Rights" standards established by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (1992 Manual). The author projects and discusses five areas of development and change in the future of healthcare ethics committees. These five areas are: 1) renewed efforts to educate healthcare professionals, 2) cooperation and collaboration among ethics committees, 3) networking with community-based ethics groups, 4) clearer delineation of responsibilities and limitations, and 5) continuous quality improvement. The ability of ethics committees to address successfully these areas of change will determine their future usefulness.
伦理委员会在美国的医疗机构中相当普遍。它们由多学科成员组成，包括医生，其在机构内的职能通常有三个方面：政策建议、伦理教育和案例咨询。由于医疗组织认证联合委员会（1992年手册）制定的“患者权利”标准，此类委员会的数量将会增加。作者预测并讨论了医疗伦理委员会未来发展和变化的五个领域。这五个领域是：1）加大对医疗专业人员的教育力度；2）伦理委员会之间的合作与协作；3）与社区伦理团体建立网络联系；4）更明确地界定职责和限制；5）持续质量改进。伦理委员会成功应对这些变化领域的能力将决定其未来的效用。
