Healthcare Ethics in 2025 and Beyond: Innovation, Integrity, and Integration
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
11:15 AM Registration
12:00 PM General Welcome and Introductions
12:10 PM From Bedside to Bots: Ethical Paradigm Shifts in Healthcare Since 2000
Aimee Zellers, PhD
Carlow University
1:15 PM Ethics, Technology and the Patient as Moral Compass
Rebekah Apple, DHSc
Carnegie Mellon University
2:35 PM BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
What Does Informed Refusal Really Mean?
Denise Stahl, MSN, FPCN
Palliative Care Advocate
VSED: Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking at the End of Life
Rebekah Apple, DHSc
Carnegie Mellon University
3:45 PM Patient Expertise and Medical Authority: Navigating Knowledge Disparities
in the Clinician-Patient Relationship
Jamie Watson, PhD, HEC-C
Cleveland Clinic
5:00 PM Adjourn for the Day
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
8:15 AM Registration / Continental Breakfast
8:30 AM Digital Dilemmas and Human Connections: Ethics at the Intersection of
Technology and Palliative Care
Karl Bezak, MD, HMDC
University of Pittsburgh
9:40 AM BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
Psychosis, Voice Hearing, and the Ethics of Trusting Patient Reports
Laura Guidry-Grimes, PhD, HEC-C
Cleveland Clinic
Guardianship in Practice: A Guide to When, Why, and How to Navigate
Guardianship in Patient Care
Libby Moore, PHD
Federated Guardians
10:45 AM BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
Ethics and Interpreter Services: Overcoming the Challenges of
Language-Discordant Care
Jamie Watson, PhD, HEC-C
Cleveland Clinic
Unbefriended, Uninvited: End of Life Doulas and Equal Access to the
“Good Death”
Adele Flaherty, PhD
Community College of Allegheny County
11:50 AM BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
Navigating Policy and Ethical Challenges in Immunization Programs:
Mandates, Exemptions, and Clinical Care
Michael Deem, PhD
University of Pittsburgh
What We Say Matters: Communication Skills That Build Trust and
Ease Suffering
Karl B. Bezak, MD, HMDC
University of Pittsburgh
12:50 PM Working Lunch
Uncertainty, Ethics and AI in Medicine – Can AI Improve Patient Care?
Alex John London, PhD
Carnegie Mellon University
2:30 PM Adjourn for the Day
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
8:15 AM Registration / Continental Breakfast
8:30 AM Anti-ableism in Clinical Practice
Laura Guidry-Grimes, PhD, HEC-C
Cleveland Clinic
9:40 AM BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
I Know There’s an App for That.., But, is That Really OK? A Discussion
About Digital Therapeutics in Healthcare
Denise Stahl, MSN, FPCN
Palliative Care Advocate
Navigating the Ethics of AI and Automation in Healthcare
Aimee Zellers, PhD
Carlow University
10:45 AM When AI Can No Longer Help: Agency Transfer Agreements for Assistive
AI Systems
Alex John London, PhD
Carnegie Mellon University
11:45 PM Wrap up and Evaluation
12:00 PM Conference Adjournment