Compliance with the standards of the industry refers to the situation where the standards have been met by an organization. However, for an organization to be said to have shown exceeding standard expectations, there is much more that it must do. Standards are made to reflect or show the behavior and levels of performance that are expected from health care practitioners. Organizations that are in the healthcare industry use these general standards to guide their policies in the daily running of their organization. However, other progressive organizations implement policies that extend and improve these general standards. The refined standards are those that enhance the operations of the organizations and achieve the intended objectives more wholesomely. Many organizations in the health care industry have come up with refined and more developed policies that are well articulated in the paper. However, if the written regulations do not manifest in the daily running of the company, then that company cannot be said to have demonstrated exceeding standard expectations. A health care organization that has adopted these improved standards and that reflects on the running of the organization, both in the business and clinical practices is said to have demonstrated exceeding standard expectations (Van der Wees, 525).
Every healthcare organization has a moral mandate to protect the health of its patients. To protect the patients effectively, the code of ethics should be stated and be expressed in a formal document that is binding to all stakeholders in the organization. My organization has adopted its standards and code of ethics. All employees are made aware of the code of conduct, and they are required to observe the guidelines stipulated in the code of conduct during the daily running of the organization. The organization has also established an ethics committee that observes and directs the organization’s activities. This is meant to make them in line with the standards set in the code of conduct. The ethics committee is mandated to educate members of staff on the ethical issues in the organization; allocation of resources in a manner that enhances the quality of care; formulate policies that guide the operations of the hospitals especially on ethical issues, and consult with other employees to come up with comprehensive decisions on matters relating to ethics. The ethics committee reports to the board of directors, which is the highest decision-making organ. The board is also responsible for reviewing the ethics committee reports (McClimans, Dunn and Slowther 926).
I am well aware of section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, which was made into law in 2002. The law requires organizations, which file annual reports with the SEC to report on management’s responsibilities. This is meant to achieve internal control over the financial reporting in the company. Although it is not mandatory for a healthcare organization to comply with this law, some progressive industry players have implemented the provisions that are stipulated in this law. My organization has not implemented this law. However, the company’s board of directors has indicated that there are plans to implement the provisions of this law in the running of our organization. My opinion is that the law is very timely and effective and should be implemented. In this case, the requirement for companies to have control over their financial reporting is a step that is aimed at ensuring that the reports are reliable and in tandem with the conventional accounting principles that require financial statements to be prepared for external purposes (Rashkover and Winter 54).
Works Cited
McClimans, Leah, M., Michael Dunn, and Anne-Marie Slowther. “Health Policy, Patient-Centered Care And Clinical Ethics.” Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 17.5 (2011): 913-919. Print.
Van der Wees, Philip. “Guidelines International Network: Toward International Standards For Clinical Practice Guidelines.” Annals of Internal Medicine 156.7 (2012): 525-W-171. Print.
Rashkover, Barry W., and Catherine B. Winter. “The Impact Of Sarbanes–Oxley On SEC Enforcement In Public Company Disclosure Cases — Part II.” International Journal of Disclosure & Governance 3.1 (2006): 49-58. Print.