Due to a series of critical product failures and quality control issues, Boeing is facing a drastic decline in public approval; consequently, a decline in stock value, combined with numerous settlement payouts and fines, has resulted in the loss of billions of dollars. Because the Federal Aviation Administration is underfunded and lacks oversight, Boeing is expected to self-regulate yet has since failed over half of its production facility audits. With the company’s quality and safety being questioned, Boeing is faced with limited options in how to regain the trust of the public, which so far include a change in management and attempts to restore their broken supply chain.
When companies fail to uphold given standards and guidelines through self-regulation, quality and safety are threatened, along with the trust of the public, and such companies may also be subject to discipline, fines, or other penalties.
In the medical context, quality, safety, and self-regulation are also crucial considerations for physicians in delivering care. AMA Code of Medical Ethics Opinion 1.1.6, “Quality” maintains that physicians individually and collectively should actively strive to improve the quality of health care. While quality does not remain solely the physician’s responsibility, their role in ensuring quality and safety is essential. A physician’s role, whether acting individually or collectively, should also adhere to AMA guidelines on self-regulation to promote safety and public trust. AMA Code of Medical Ethics Opinion 9.4.3, “Discipline & Medicine” states that “incompetence, corruption, dishonest, or unethical conduct on the part of members of the medical profession is reprehensible. In addition to posing a real or potential threat to patients, such conduct undermines the public’s confidence in the profession.” Opinion 9.4.3 further explains that “[t]he goal of disciplinary review is both to protect patients and to help ensure that colleagues receive appropriate assistance from a physician health program or other service to enable them to practice safely and ethically.”
To ensure the quality and safety of health care delivery, physicians should adhere to the AMA Code of Medical Ethics self-regulatory guidance, so as to uphold public trust and patient safety.