ACHE FACHE STUDY GUIDE
Domain Guide
3 Step FACHE Exam Prep
01
WATCH VIDEOS
02
READ STUDY SET &
REVIEW DOMAINS
03
TAKE PRACTICE TESTS
Professionalism and Ethics Domain: Key Concepts for the FACHE Exam
The Professionalism and Ethics domain on the ACHE Board of Governors exam is vital, as it tests your understanding of the ethical responsibilities of a healthcare leader. It goes beyond personal values to focus on a systematic approach to ethical decision-making and professional conduct.
Key Concepts
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ACHE Code of Ethics: This is the most important document to study. You must be familiar with its structure and core principles. The code outlines the ethical obligations of a healthcare executive to several key groups:
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The Profession: Maintaining personal integrity, disclosing conflicts of interest, and upholding the dignity of the healthcare management profession.
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Patients/Others Served: Advocating for patient rights, ensuring services are provided consistent with available resources, and safeguarding patient privacy and confidentiality.
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The Organization: Leading with honesty and integrity, preventing fraud and abuse, and creating an environment where both clinical and administrative mistakes are minimized and addressed.
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Employees: Promoting a healthy work environment free from harassment and coercion, and encouraging ethical conduct.
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Community and Society: Working to identify and meet the healthcare needs of the community and promoting access to care for all.
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Ethical Principles: You should understand the foundational ethical principles often applied in healthcare.
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Autonomy: Respecting the patient's right to make their own decisions about their healthcare. This includes informed consent.
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Beneficence: Acting in a way that promotes the well-being and best interests of others.
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Nonmaleficence: The principle of "do no harm." Healthcare executives must ensure their decisions do not intentionally cause harm to patients or the organization.
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Justice: Ensuring fairness and equity in the distribution of healthcare resources. This applies to the allocation of limited resources, access to care, and non-discrimination.
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Ethical Decision-Making: The exam will likely present you with ethical dilemmas and ask how you would resolve them. A systematic approach is key:
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Identify the Ethical Dilemma: Clearly define the conflict, recognizing the competing values at play (e.g., patient autonomy vs. organizational financial interests).
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Gather the Facts: Collect all relevant information from stakeholders, policies, and laws.
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Identify All Stakeholders: Determine who will be affected by the decision (e.g., patients, employees, community, the organization).
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Explore Options and Consequences: Brainstorm potential solutions and analyze their ethical, legal, and operational consequences.
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Choose a Course of Action: Select the option that best aligns with the ACHE Code of Ethics and the ethical principles.
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Justify the Decision: Be prepared to explain your reasoning, demonstrating a logical and ethical process.
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Professional Conduct and Conflicts of Interest: Healthcare executives must maintain a high level of professionalism. You should know how to identify and manage conflicts of interest, especially those involving financial gain or personal relationships that could compromise professional judgment. The ACHE Code of Ethics explicitly requires the disclosure and, when appropriate, avoidance of such conflicts.
Step 1: Watch Videos
ACHE FACHE Prep Videos
ACHE FACHE Prep Videos
"Ethics," Jason Lesandrini, MA, FACHE, LPEC, HEC-C, 2021 GAHE BOG Exam Review Class
"Quality & Performance," Michelle Adzhemyan, ACHE of Georgia BOG Exam Review Class
GAHE BOG Week 5 Session Video 10-6-23 -- "Quality and Performance" and "Ethics"
Step 2: Read Board of Governors Study Set
Introduction to the Financial Management of Healthcare Organizations, Eighth Edition Eighth edition
by Michael Nowicki (Author)
To succeed in an increasingly competitive environment, healthcare managers require a full toolbox of knowledge and abilities. Yet, many managers lack financial skills or an understanding of how to apply them to their work. Introduction to the Financial Management of Healthcare Organizations offers a fundamental overview of how financial management works in healthcare organizations. Designed for healthcare management students, clinical students, and managers new to healthcare, the book reinforces basic concepts through mini-case studies, practice problems, and self-quizzes. A comprehensive case at the end of the book draws on information presented throughout the chapters to help readers apply their newfound financial skills to real-world healthcare scenarios. This heavily revised edition features current data and updated content on economics, financial accounting, laws, and regulations. Organized into modules, the book allows instructors to use the chapters that are best suited to their course and in the order that they prefer. Chapter one appendices highlight introductory content and terminology exploring statistics, economics, and financial accounting.
The Well-Managed Healthcare Organization
by Kenneth R. White (Author)
The Well-Managed Healthcare Organization is an essential text in healthcare management courses. Throughout its previous nine editions, the book has offered management fundamentals and theories, presenting them within the context of current healthcare delivery trends and scenarios for various settings. Students learn how to apply evidence-based practices that lead to high performance in healthcare organizations. Written in a more approachable tone, this extensively revised tenth edition describes the new standard of practice for many types of healthcare organizations (HCOs). Each chapter shares updated Practice Applications designed to promote active learning and highlight appropriate responses to common issues and challenges. New content in the book includes: • New and emerging issues faced by HCOs, such as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased workforce shortages, and a demand for services that exceeds capacity • Strategies for increasing employee engagement The Well-Managed Healthcare Organization offers foundational content and evidence-based practices for reaching excellence in quality, patient satisfaction, individual engagement, and sound financial performance.
Human Resources in Healthcare: Managing for Success, Fifth Edition Fifth Edition
by Carla Jackie Sampson PhD (Editor), Bruce J. Fried PhD (Editor
The unprecedented events of 2020 exposed many of the hidden flaws in the healthcare system that harm not only patients but also healthcare employees and their well-being. Anti-racism movements demanded that healthcare organizations reframe their diversity and inclusion initiatives. The COVID-19 pandemic forced systems to respond to worker strain, stress, and burnout. These events and others have reinforced the need for a dynamic and constantly evolving approach to human resources in healthcare. Human Resources in Healthcare: Managing for Success addresses the key realities and trends in healthcare human relations. The topics explored provide readers with a solid foundation for working effectively with people in healthcare organizations. The book’s aim is to equip managers with the conflict management and problem-solving skills necessary to apply sound human resources policies. This fifth edition includes three new chapters based on recent developments. One explores burnout and worker well-being in the changing healthcare landscape and in the face of a pandemic. Another focuses on diversity, inclusion, and belonging, offering problem-based cases and a tool for diversity strategy development. The third addresses worker retention, as millennials and Generation Z become a larger share of the workforce. Other changes in this edition include: updates on the increasing use of technology and its effect on the employer–employee relationship; vignettes in each chapter that challenge students with difficult ethical dilemmas; human resources metrics that support a diversity strategy and effectiveness in retention and hiring; and expanded instructor resources that include teaching notes for ethical scenarios and discussion questions. Recognizing change in the healthcare workforce is only the first step. This book elevates managers to the next step: expertly adapting and succeeding in the face of change.
Information Technology for Healthcare Managers, Ninth edition 9th Edition
by Gerald L. Glandon (Author), Donna J. Slovensky (Author), Detlev H. Smaltz (Author)
Though healthcare is largely technology driven, the deployment of health information technology (HIT) has occurred in waves rather than a steady flow, and usually in response to government mandates. This emergent HIT strategy has culminated in highly complex and dynamic systems crafted over many years using products from multiple vendors. Healthcare organizations are now focused on big data aggregated from myriad data-producing applications both in and beyond the enterprise. Healthcare leaders must position themselves to leverage the new opportunities that arise from HIT’s ascendance and to mine the vast amount of available data for competitive advantage. Where can they turn for insight? With the unique advantage of both academic and real-world experience in HIT leadership, the authors of Information Technology for Healthcare Managers blend management theory, cutting-edge tech knowledge, and a thorough grounding in the healthcare applications of technology. Opinions abound on technology’s best uses for society, but healthcare organizations need more than opinion—they need knowledge and strategy. This book will help leaders combine tech savvy with business savvy for sustainable success in a dynamic environment.
Step 3: Take Practice Tests
Practice Exam:
BOG Practice Exam
Flash Cards:
