Abstract
The care of Very Important Patients (VIPs) is different from other patients because
they may receive greater access, attention, and resources from health care staff.
Although the term VIP is used regularly in the medical literature and is implicitly
understood, in practice it constitutes a wide and heterogeneous group of patients
that have a strong effect on health care providers. We define a VIP as a very influential
patient whose individual attributes and characteristics (eg, social status, occupation,
position), coupled with their behavior, have the potential to significantly influence
a clinician's judgment or behavior. Physicians, celebrities, the politically powerful,
and philanthropists, may all become VIPs in the appropriate context. The quality of
care may be inferior because health care professionals may deviate from standard practices
when caring for them. Understanding the common features among what may otherwise be
very different groups of patients can help health care providers manage ethical concerns
when they arise. We use a series of vignettes to demonstrate how VIPs behavior and
status can influence a clinician's judgment or actions. Appreciating the ethical principles
in these varied circumstances provides health care professionals with the tools to
manage ethical conflicts that arise in the care of VIPs. We conclude each vignette
with guidance for how health care providers and administrators can manage the ethical
concern.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 29, 2015
Footnotes
Funding: None.
Conflict of Interest: None.
Authorship: All authors had access to the data and a role in writing the manuscript.
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc.
