Resolving ethical conflicts in a managed health care environment

Abstract

The managed health care environment is replete with situations that create ethical conflicts for the professional social worker. This article examines two such conflicts--competing fiduciary relationships and justice versus injustice--as they relate to social work practice and the 1996 revised NASW Code of Ethics. Mechanisms to reduce these ethical conflicts are presented. The obligation for social workers to participate in social action as a method of reducing injustices found in managed care environments is examined through the principle of distributive justice, egalitarianism, and the NASW Code of Ethics.