Legal Issues in Health Care

This essay is going to talk about healthcare law and breaches of duty of care. Healthcare law is generally tort law. A “tort” is a legal wrong that the law provides a remedy for. The person that suffers the injury is known as the plaintiff and the person said to of caused the injury is known as the defendant or tortfeasor. Tort law originates from the time of the norman conquest in 1066. Tort law is a type of civil law and tortious wrongs are known as civil wrongs. Tort covers a range of things from trespass to negligence. Negligence is the most common area of tort law that healthcare professionals will come across.

One of the main ethical issues that faces health care is the security of patient information. This information is protected by laws and regulations such as HIPPA, but there are still concerns Scott, et al, 2005). Among those concerns is the new concept of electronic patient records and information. These records are designed to help hospitals and doctors get patient information more quickly, so that patients can receive treatment as soon as possible. Unfortunately, anything kept and transmitted on a computer has the potential to be hacked, so that is a serious concern for patients. Not all patients want their medical records to be available electronically, but they may not have too many options (Romano & Stafford, 2010). Opting out may not be an option for them, and if they do have that option it could reduce the speed and quality of treatment that these patients would receive. Do they want to risk that, just so they can feel as though their medical information is better protected?

This benefits the hospitals because managers and physicians cannot afford to provide free medical services to uninsured patients without any coverage. The organizations will soon lose profit from using many expensive technologies and medical machines if they help patients at no cost especially emergency situations. They cannot deny services after the patients admitted to the hospital with no insurance. It is against the law. However, the reforms from ACA still cause some difficulty for health services organizations because these changes make consumers in charge of their healthcare. There are three key ethical issues I might face in the future are providing equal access to care, balancing quality of care, and maintaining the finance of the organization. Since President Obama expects all organizations to lower their costs for their services along with quality of care, this makes managers to feel unfair for those who get same high quality of care services but pay more than others like commercial insurances. This brings up the principle of justice. Managers have to find way to maintain their business and maintain good services for patients and families. In addition, there are guidelines that help dealing with these ethical issues in the

In a world of budget cut and layoffs, medical corporations face new and different challenges in addition to helping and healing patients. I used to work as a medical biller in a physician’s office for five years and I experienced how difficult for the health care providers to get reimbursed. The government and the insurance companies have been limiting the budget towards the health care services. This action also affects the hospitals greatly because Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and some policymakers have requested the hospitals to reduce the

Physician-hospital relations: Hospitals are having issues aligning themselves with physicians due to the fact that physicians tend to be individualists, lack of overall involvement of physicians, doctors tend to be the figurehead and not a subordinate, physicians see problems differently than administrators. These issues cause strain between the two parties and overall employment of physicians and various

As an employee in the healthcare industry, you may be faced with legal and ethical dilemmas. Sometimes laws may put the healthcare worker in a position that may be unethical to perform, in their eyes. There are certain laws that are passed to protect the health care worker as well as the patients. Each healthcare worker must know their rights and responsibilities to the patient and patients must know their rights in accessing the appropriate treatment. I will discuss a few legal and ethical issues regarding the laws concerning conscience clause, respondeat superior, and scope of practice.

The hospitals are more in favor of having physicians on the hospital staff rather than contracts. The high costs of Medicare and Medicaid are raising the cost of healthcare for this hospital, and the nation. The competition between a not-for-profit hospital and a profit hospital are beneficial to the consumer. The competition with a profit hospital will have the effect of lower prices for this hospital, but higher quality of care for our

I talked with a couple of mental health professionals within the local area in which I live, I asked each of them form their perspective weather or not they work with insurance companies, what are the advantages of insurance panels, what are the struggles. One of the mental health care professional stated that some of the disadvantage being involved with insurance panels is the enormous amount of paper work that involved that must be prepared. This was one of her most frustration in work with insurance planes other than waiting to paid especially when it come third party payer. Also, the amount of wages which is non-negotiable, because the insurance company set their own pay rates which is considerably less that

Healthcare management usually involves a wide range of activities. It in loves planning, administration, regulations and legislation all aimed at enhancing the quality of the system for the benefit of the patient and the medics. Planning is important as it provides efficient health care to all who are seeking medical intervention. However, planning should not be used as an intimidating tool denying the individual his or healthcare unless such intervention is necessary to the public health interest (Brody 2010). This has been none of the ethical issues surrounding the healthcare system. There has been a debate on what entails patient autonomy and the extent to which the healthcare team should participate in decision

While visiting my mother in the hospital this past weekend, I was a witness to an event that was quite unsettling. A homeless gentleman, who looked to be about 35 years old, was asked to pay $150 upfront for medical services due to his lack of insurance. The man informed the medical assistant that he was homeless and did not have the funds, to which the assistant responded that no services would be rendered without pay and turned the man away. The man stated that he was experiencing continuous chest pains, which could be an early symptom of a more serious condition. However due to his lack of funds and the fact that he was uninsured he was not permitted to be seen by the doctor.

It's very imperative for all members of the medical team to know the different types of laws and the consequences, so that all practices and treatments are precise and professional. No one would want a doctor to work quickly and inefficient, so these laws regulate the health care. If these laws are broken the medical team could lose their licensure and practices. Patients will also want to keep their health records confidential. The laws that govern the medical field help protect patients confidentially and rights. The laws also protect medical teams from getting sued when helping in an emergency situation, such as CPR on a victim in a serious accident.

As a health administrator, my priority is to make sure the patient get a good health care which is the value for the money and affordable to all the citizens from all walks of life. Therefore, bargaining for the prices is a welcome initiative since the hospitals is not a profit making institution. Furthermore, all the human beings do not have the same income. This makes it rational to negotiate for prices to make sure the system cover all the patients. Thus, as administrator my first reaction is to listen to the suggestions given by the patients and other organization to get their point of view as to why they think the prices should come down.

It is important that we act in a way that is ethical, legal, and commendable. Medical professionals struggle with healthcare dilemmas that are not experienced by the general public. Medical-ethical decisions have become increasingly complicated with the advancement of medical science and technology. (Fremgen) Just like the government has laws for citizens, not having laws in healthcare would allow people to do anything they want. It is important that we study the ethics and laws of healthcare, because if we were put in a situation it is essential that we know the difference between right and wrong. In the article I found, it talks about a nurse who refuses to give CPR to an older woman who collapsed in a senior residence where she works. This article has many more ethical issues than legal issues.

The problem at Memorial Hospital is the focus on costs instead of health care. When a health care provider does not take the primary business as the core value of the operation and make strategic and tactical decisions based primary on costs, it decreases the consumers’ (patients) satisfaction in long run. As consumers reduce or stop purchasing goods and services from the hospital, hospital may make more cost oriented decisions and falls into a negative cycle. Eventually the hospital may face the fate of loosing business to competitors and the possibility of closing the door.

The health care industry continually deals with the lives of individuals and is bound by the ethical and legal aspects that influence decisions of health care professionals in their clinical practice. This essay aims to discuss the various issues and ethical dilemmas that arise with regards to the consent of consumers. In the attempt to explore these points, different literatures are used to shed light on this topic. This paper begins by defining what consent is and the role of nurses or the health care team in being an advocate of the patient when requiring consent. It moves on with the discussion of ethical frameworks, which are recognized nationally and internationally, as these carry significant influences in health care decision-making. The essay also brings out the essence of ethical theories and its relevance to consent giving. It then tackles the similarities and differences of the Code of Ethics and ethical guidelines relevant to both nursing and midwives as both professions work closely in the care of mothers, children and families. Issues and views from experienced professionals in these fields are presented and critically compared. It then considers both ethical and legal aspects, which seeks arguments and rational implications. The last topic points to the social and spiritual factors pertinent to consent that impact the society particularly on the care of patients and concludes by summarising discussed points and arguments about consent.