Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice

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Code of Ethics for the Healthcare Quality Professionals

Healthcare Quality Professionals recognize a personal accountability and a moral obligation to all customers served: clients, employees, employers, physicians, organizations, and the public. Healthcare Quality Professionals are committed to maintaining the integrity of the practice of quality and performance improvement. The key elements defining the standards of conduct for the Healthcare Quality Professional are: commitment, confidentiality, and relationships.

The Healthcare Quality Professional agrees to uphold and promote the dignity of the profession and is committed to:

• Practicing the profession with honesty, integrity, and accountability
• Maintaining the level of competence as outlined in the standards of practice for Healthcare Quality Professionals
• Seeking the trust and confidence of all customers
• Supporting the Standards of Practice for Healthcare Quality Professionals
• Respecting all laws, and avoiding involvement in any false, fraudulent, or deceptive activity
• Promoting the right of privacy for all individuals and protecting the maintenance of confidential information to the fullest extent permitted by law
• Maintaining membership in professional organizations as a means of promoting quality and avoiding the use of such membership for the sole purpose of solicitation of business or for personal gain
• Using expertise to inform employers or clients of possible positive and negative outcomes of management decisions in an effort to facilitate informed decision making
• Giving credit for the work of others to those to whom it is due
• Aiding the professional development and advancement of colleagues
• Using the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) designation only after passing the written examination and standards established by the Healthcare Quality Certification Board (HQCB), and continuing to maintain those standards through the recertification process

Standards of Practice for Healthcare Quality Professionals

Fundamental to Practice, the Healthcare Quality Professional:

• Maintains an active personal and professional development program in the field of healthcare quality and exhibits a broad range of knowledge
• Creates and supports an environment which fosters team work, emphasizes quality, recognizes the customer, and promotes learning
• Maintains a commitment to the improvement of the professional through participation in, and active support of, the local, state, and national professional organizations. Pursues certification through a formal program that enhances professional competencies and recognizes leadership in healthcare
• Supports the Code of Ethics for Healthcare Quality Professionals

In the area of Leadership, the Healthcare Quality Professional:

• Provides for performance and quality management improvement training and education for organization leaders
• Establishes specific quality-related goals for management to measure the organization’s processes and outcomes
• Demonstrates management skills in the administration of programs that focus on improved outcomes of patient care or healthcare delivery systems

In the area of Information and Analysis, the Healthcare Quality Professional:

• Exhibits skill in health information fundamentals to include application of basic statistical processes, data analysis and reporting, and computer use
• Possesses excellent written and verbal communication skills, applicable in both individual and organizational development

In the area of strategic Quality Planning, the Healthcare Quality Professional:

• Provides leadership and consultative services to departments and services within the organization in achieving regulatory, accreditation, and organizational compliance in quality and in performance management and improvement activities
• Seeks management involvement in the development of a planning approach that supports healthcare quality
• Establishes quality as a guiding principle when exploring organizational efforts to control healthcare costs

In the area of Human Resource Development and Management, the Healthcare Quality Professional:

• Supports programs developed to recognize achievements related to healthcare quality
• Exhibits a commitment to the Code of Ethics for Healthcare Quality Professionals
• Assures staff involvement in all healthcare quality team efforts
• Mentors others in the principles of healthcare quality

In the area of Management of Process Quality, the Healthcare Quality Professional:

• Assures that customer expectations guide the development and continuous improvement of processes, products and services
• Acts as an agent of change and is effective in the change process, to include participating in the identification of opportunities to improve, the resolution of problems, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of change
• Integrates training, recognition, team approach, and customer satisfaction to create a standard approach to the continuous improvement of organizational process

In the area of Quality and Operational Results, the Healthcare Quality Professional:

• Promotes quality efforts as a proactive - not reactive - undertaking
  Assures that personnel have the appropriate and necessary skills and tools to evaluate problems and achieve improvements
  Seeks to identify root causes of problems rather than focus on individual members or events

In the area of Customer Focus and Satisfaction, the Healthcare Quality Professional:

• Establishes customer satisfaction as the primary goal for the organization’s quality activities
• Standardizes the approach for determining customer expectations
• Serves as a customer advocate in resolution of concerns and initiation of performance improvement activities

Note: This document is intended to serve as a guideline for the professional components of this discipline. It is not intended as a job description.