The Ethisphere Institute has released its 13th annual list of the "World's Most Ethical Companies," which includes nine U.S. health systems.

Methodology

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For the list, the institute evaluated candidates in five areas:

• Ethics and compliance programs, 35%;
• Corporate citizenship and responsibility, 20%;
• Culture of ethics, 20%;
• Governance, 15%; and
• Leadership and reputation, 10%.

Overall, Ethisphere recognized 128 companies from 21 countries on its list, which covers 50 industries.

Health care honorees

Nine U.S. health systems were recognized on Ethisphere's 2019 list:

• Baptist Health South Florida;
• Cleveland Clinic;
• Covenant Health;
• Greater Hudson Valley Health System;
• HCA Healthcare;
• Kaiser Permanente;
• Northwell Health;
• University Hospitals; and
• University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

Other health care and health care-adjacent companies named to the list were:

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• 3M;
• Blue California;
• Cambia;
• CareFirst;
• Edwards Lifesciences;
• Elekta;
• Eli Lilly;
• Health Care Service Corporation;
• Henry Schein;
• IBM;
• Microsoft; and
• WPS Health Solutions.

Comments

In response to Cleveland Clinic's recognition on the list, Donald Sinko, Cleveland Clinic's chief integrity officer, in a release said , "[O]ur culture is one that encourages all caregivers to do what's right, to speak up when issues arise, to value inclusion and diversity, to treat to patients and fellow caregivers as family, and, of course, to provide the best health care anywhere."

Kathi Whalen, HCA's SVP and chief ethics and compliance officer, said being named to Ethisphere's list is "an honor" and that "it speaks volumes about our values-based ethics and compliance program, which is a vital part of the way we care for people and conduct business."

Diane Holder, EVP at UPMC, said,  "Our values provide the foundation to operate with the highest level of integrity and business ethics in pursuit of our mission-driven objectives" (Ethisphere release, 2/26; Ethisphere list, accessed 3/19; Ethisphere methodology, accessed 3/19; Cleveland Clinic release, 2/26; HCA Healthcare release, 2/26; UPMC release, 2/26).

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