Short answerHealthcare ethics

Ethics of the American College of Healthcare Executives

One named code and one general question. The code is short and worth reading, because its structure — obligations to several constituencies at once — is what answers the second question.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 22, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

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Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Read the code, because its structure is the answer

The code is a short document and reading it is the difference between an answer and a guess. What makes it distinctive is not that it exists but how it is organised: it sets out obligations to several constituencies at once, covering responsibilities to the profession, to patients and others served, to the organisation, to employees, and to community and society, with a separate section on conflicts of interest. That structure is the point, because it acknowledges that an executive's duties can pull against each other, and it also carries a grievance procedure and the possibility of expulsion, which makes it enforceable in a way most codes are not. Note too that it binds an individual member rather than an organisation, so the obligations described are personal ones an executive carries into whatever job they hold, which is why reading it as an organisational policy misses what it is for.

The second question is broader and it improves enormously if you resist the temptation to say business ethics matters more in health care because lives are at stake. That is true but unexplanatory. The useful answer names the structural features that make health care different from other markets: the information asymmetry between clinician and patient, so the buyer cannot evaluate the product; the fact that the person choosing, the person consuming and the person paying are frequently three different parties; demand that is often non-deferrable and non-negotiable, since a person in acute need is a poor bargainer; and the entanglement of clinical and financial decisions, where a utilisation or staffing choice made on a spreadsheet becomes a clinical outcome at the bedside. Then give one concrete example where a defensible business decision creates an ethical problem, such as closing an unprofitable service line that is the only one in the area, and say what the code asks of the executive.

Likely learning objectives

Describe a named code by its actual structure rather than its existence.
Recognise that a code addressing several constituencies acknowledges conflict.
Explain what makes health care markets structurally different.
Apply the code to a decision where business and ethics diverge.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

What is the Code of Ethics of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE)? What is the role of Business Ethics in Healthcare? Use at least two high-quality resource from the Saint Leo Library or other liable resources to support your answer

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Ethics of the American College of Healthcare Executives Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument. ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours. Ethics of the American College of Healthcare Executives

Turn the brief into deliverables

01What the ACHE code is and who it binds.
02The constituencies it names and the conflicts that implies.
03Its enforcement mechanism.
04Structural features that make health care unlike other markets.
05A concrete example where a business decision creates an ethical problem.
06At least two high-quality sources.