Patient mix, ethics Willow Way Nursing Home, attempting to improve its profit, adopted a policy of welcoming only residents who are covered by private insurance or by Medicare or who have sufficient funds of their own to pay the nursing home fees. These groups of residents are clearly the most profitable for Willow Way, but a much larger number of potential residents are covered only by Medicaid, which pays a much lower fee per resident to nursing homes. Other nursing homes welcomed Medicaid patients, reasoning that having such patients covering some of the home's capacity costs was preferable to empty beds. Willow Way, however, turned away potential residents whose only coverage was through Medicaid and actively encouraged its employees to discharge current residents covered through Medicaid by paying a bonus per Medicaid resident discharged. Employees were also frequently asked to report on their efforts to discharge such residents.
Required

a. Evaluate Willow Way's approach to achieving profit for the nursing home and discuss ethical issues related to its admission and discharge policies.

b. What options are available to an employee who believes the nursing home's policies are unethical?