Subproject A (Medical Ethics)
DRGs and changes in health care: an analysis of the ethical issues and their perception by physicians
The research team at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics at the University of Zurich will provide an overview of ethical issues raised in the context of DRGs, drawing on an existing review of the literature, an already completed Delphi study on ethical parameters for DRG research, and a currently ongoing “hot spot study”, defining areas in medicine that require particular attention. It will proceed to explore in more depth the perspective of physicians working (resp. anticipating to work) under DRG conditions (quantitative survey and qualitative interviews), focusing on perceived or expected conflicts of interest, limitations of professional autonomy, possible discrepancies between participants’ ethical standards and their real life practice, and implications for work motivation and job satisfaction, which may in turn affect the ability to perform high quality patient care.