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What Is an Ethics Consult and How Can I Request One?
An ethics consult is a specialized consultation provided by healthcare professionals to address concerns surrounding ethical dilemmas, values, and obstacles in decision-making. Ethics consults help patients, families, and other healthcare […]
An ethics consult is a specialized consultation provided by healthcare professionals to address concerns surrounding ethical dilemmas, values, and obstacles in decision-making. Ethics consults help patients, families, and other healthcare professionals make informed decisions when complex ethical issues complicate treatment goals. These consults can be requested by contacting a member of the care team, such as a healthcare provider or a social worker. Although many ethics consults occur in person, some consults can also be arranged and conducted over the phone if the healthcare facility has a dedicated ethics consultant available during regular business hours.
Ethics consultants typically have extensive expertise in addressing a variety of ethical issues in numerous settings. Common ethical issues that are addressed in ethics consultations include:
- Requesting help for identifying suitable surrogate decision-makers,
- Interpretation of advance care planning documents,
- Resolving questions surrounding end-of-life treatments and decisions,
- Providing guidance on the resolution of conflicts regarding treatment plans
- Further review of innovative treatments.
Depending on the complexity of the concern, ethics consultants may conduct extensive research to gather supporting information and provide an ethical analysis with recommendations to those who have requested the consultation. Additionally, ethics consultants typically focus on trying to understand the diverse perspectives and values of everyone involved so that they can help the group reach an agreeable resolution to the ethical concern.
When an ethics consultation is requested, participating physicians are expected to take certain actions, such as notifying the patient and their family if the request did not originate from them. They must obtain the patient’s agreement to participate in the consultation and cannot coerce or force their involvement. When recommendations are provided by an ethics consultant, the individuals involved in the consult should be aware that accepting the recommendations is not required. If physicians or healthcare professionals choose not to accept the recommendations of the consultant, they are expected to share a clear rationale regarding their decision.
Sources
“Ethics Consultation FAQ”. Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy. https://www.bcm.edu/academic-centers/medical-ethics-and-health-policy/clinical-ethics/ethics-consultation-faq
“Clinical Ethics Consultation Service for UW Medicine”. UW Medicine Department of Bioethics and Humanities. https://depts.washington.edu/bhdept/ethics-consultation
“Ethics Consultations”. AMA Code of Medical Ethics. https://code-medical-ethics.ama-assn.org/ethics-opinions/ethics-consultations
