Abstract: Federal initiatives are encouraging the increase of IS graduates to work in the healthcare environment because they possess knowledge of datasets and dataset management that are key to effective management of electronic health records (EHRs) and health information technology (IT). IS graduates will be members of the healthcare team, and as such, they should gain an understanding of bioethics and 'level the playing field' so that they may meaningfully contribute to the healthcare team. Moreover, they should be mindful of professional ethical codes and common ground that healthcare and IS professions share, particularly with regard to ethical principles of beneficence, autonomy, fidelity, and justice. The purpose of this paper is to present ways to integrate healthcare ethical issues within IS education. To this end, we discuss the notion of a mutual understanding of bioethics and present professional codes of ethics as an advance organizer. We also offer an example ("Fidelity and The Case of Two Datasets") that may be used in class to illustrate a specific IS healthcare ethical dilemma. Prepared with the knowledge of ethical problems in healthcare organizations, IS professionals can meaningfully contribute to the deliberations and resolutions of the problems that will emerge as more healthcare facilities employ EHRs.

Keywords: Ethics, Health care, Privacy, Data management

Download this article: JISE - Volume 22 Number 3, Page 215.pdf

Recommended Citation: Cellucci, L. W., Layman, E. J., Campbell, R., & Zeng, X. (2011). Integrating Healthcare Ethical Issues Into IS Education. Journal of Information Systems Education, 22(3), 215-224.