Clinical Ethics Consult Service
The UI Health Clinical Ethics Consult Service offers education, consultation, and health policy service. The Clinical Ethics Consult Service provides leadership in healthcare ethics at the institutional, state, national and international level. Welcome and please take a look at what our service has to offer. We welcome your questions, please contact us.
The Clinical Ethics Consult Service has the primary goal of providing direct assistance to patients, their family members, and to staff of UI Hospital related to the ethical issues that surround healthcare provided at UI Hospital. Clinical ethics consultation is designed to offer a valuable service to optimize patient care, protect patient and staff rights and to educate medical center staff on related healthcare ethics issues.
Our Services
Purpose
- Educate about clinical ethics issues, health policy issues, and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization standards
- Provide clinical ethics consultation and assist with resolution of ethical issues
- Assist with revision and clarification of hospital policy and the related ethical/legal issues
How to contact the Clinical Ethics Consult Service
Any UI Hospital staff member, patient or family member with a concern or a question related to health care and patient rights and ethics may request a clinical ethics consult. The director of the Clinical Ethics Consult Service may be contacted by calling UI Hospital paging operator 312.996.2242 or UI Hospital clinicians can enter consult order through the Computerized Physician Order Entry system . The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Clinical Ethics Consultation Activity
The clinical ethics consultation may be informal - such as for clarification of a policy statement or an inquiry related to an ethical issue. In these cases, the information discussed is informational and for educational purposes, and no documentation is provided in any medical records. Formal consultation activity includes a consult service members reviewing the ethical issue with related staff, patient and/or family members, reviewing the medical record, assisting with a family/team meeting as appropriate, and providing documentation of the consult events. It is often the case with consultation activity that the consultant may confidentially review the case issues with other UI Hospital professionals for specific assistance (such as clergy, social work, legal affairs, or other service members).
Case review occurs among the consult service members for peer review and assistance via a secured online service web board, and with the UI Hospital ethics committee at monthly committee meetings. HIPAA regulations are followed to ensure confidentiality and protection of private personal information.
Our Team
The service consists of the service director along with consultants, each with extensive training in clinical health care ethics consultation. These consultants also serve as members of the UI Hospital Medical Ethics Committee.
Dr. Mary Lou Schmidt is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Head of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. Dr. Schmidt is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and has been an attending physician at UIC since 1992.
She is a member of the UIC Medical Center Ethics Committee and has been a member of the Medical Ethics Consultation Team since 2003
Our Locations
The Clinical Ethics Consult Service is located in the University Of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Clinical Ethics Department (M/C 693)
840 S. Wood St
Room 1303
Chicago, IL 60612
