... The Indian Health Service government website give a general overview about the programs and services that IHS has to offer to Native Americans and Alaska Natives. This site provides an interdisciplinary approach to promote and provide community health among these people. This site also provides general information about the Affordable Care Act and Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which extends current law and authorizes new programs and services within the Indian Health Service. This information is all well written and easily accessible for the general public, members of IHS, providers, and also those looking for a career opportunity in this specific field. This site also provides legal information such as eligibility and legislation for IHS, which covers 566 federally, recognized tribes in 35 different states. Overall this site is credible and well put together in order to aid the public in learning more about the health system for Native Americans and Alaska Native. NBC News. (2014). Broken promises: Reservations lack basic care. Healthcare on NBC News. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/31210909/ns/ health-health_care/t/broken-promises-reservations-lack-basic- care/#.VIOJX4d692c This news article provides a real life example of the Indian Health Service system failing to provide proper care to a five-year-old girl on the Crow Reservation in Montana. The article goes on to discuss the legality and weaknesses that are highly present in the...
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...Healthcare Law and IT Brittany Technology is constantly evolving and advancing. As the healthcare industry becomes more electronic the laws protecting patient health information also need to evolve to cover the ever changing technologic advances. The concerns of protecting patients’ private healthcare information have grown as the use of electronic medical records has become more prevalent throughout the industry. In the 1960s computers began being used for generalizing human behavior. A physician established the idea of the Electronic Medical Record (Srinivasan, 2013). Unfortunately, the usage of electronic medical records did not become more mainstream until two decades later. (Srinivasan, 2013). As the use of EMRs became more prevalent healthcare information technology has played a “pivotal role in improving healthcare quality, cost, effectiveness, and efficiency,” (Srinivasan, 2013). However, the use of healthcare information technology has brought up concerns about privacy and protection of patient health information. In 1996, the Health Information Privacy and Accountability Act also known as HIPAA was passed. This was the first federal law regulating the privacy of health information. HIPAA was “designed primarily to modernize the flow of health information” (Solove, 2013). While at this time medical records were still in paper form, it was clear that health records would become digital in the future. (Solove, 2013). In the early years of HIPAA...
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...Healthcare Law and IT 1 Healthcare Law and IT 2 Healthcare as a whole has undergone an enormous transformation in recent years. The United States spends more on healthcare delivery, in terms of a percentage of GDP, than any other country in the world. Much of that cost is related to research and improvements in technology and information systems, as well as implementing them in an effort to reduce healthcare costs over time. That is where healthcare informatics comes into effect. According to Health Services Research Information Central, the definition of health informatics is, “the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption, and application of IT-based innovations in healthcare services delivery, management, and planning.” Healthcare informatics is used to gather, analyze, and interpret data and information about patients and treatments. This information, along with business and management information, is used to interpret how things are and to develop a better, more efficient and more cost effective method of operation. The big question is, how does healthcare informatics and technology effect or impact the development and implementation of healthcare law? One of the most effective technologies that has been widely adopted already is electronic health records. EHR are systems that track and record patient information. It also makes them more accessible and easier to share and communicate between doctors, patients and insurance companies. Electronic...
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...1. Identify and explain the four elements of proof necessary for a plaintiff to prove a negligence case. To begin with, when people think of professional liability in healthcare, they usually think of medical practice, a form of negligence. Negligence by definition is known as one of the most common type of malpractice that exists in the healthcare industry. However, in order for a negligence case to be proven, four elements are necessary: Duty of Care, Breach of that duty, Injury and Causation, (J. W. Showalter, 2007). The first element, duty of care, requires all persons to conduct themselves as a reasonably prudent person would do similar circumstances. Generally, duty of care is a legal notion that states that people owe anyone around them or anyone who could be around them a duty to no to place them in situations of undue risk of harm. For example, physicians have a duty to protect patients from foreseeable dangers that could lead to any injury. In case of a surgery, they have a duty to make sure all equipment are in good condition, so it does not lead to injury while the procedure is done. They also have a duty to take preventive measures which create a safer environment. The second element, breach of that duty, requires expert testimony, which normally comes from the defendant’s fellow practitioners because they know the standards of practice best. For example, a specialist may testify about the standards for general practitioners if she is knowledgeable about...
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...The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act came about in 1986, but was sought after as far back as the 1960s. This law requires emergency care to individuals regardless of ability to pay. EMTALA requires examination and treatment of individuals who present with an emergency medical condition and/or women who present in labor. This law is applicable to all hospitals that participate in the federal Medicare program. EMTALA should not be confused with medical malpractice law. EMTALA also applies to individuals who present with acute symptoms of psychiatric illness and/or substance abuse. The Right to Emergency Care Including the Needs of the Psychiatric Patient The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires access to emergency care regardless of an individual’s ability to pay. EMTALA may also be known as the Anti-Patient Dumping Statute. Regardless of the lack of duty to admit or serve all who present for treatment, a hospital emergency department is an exception to the rule (Showalter, 2015). A hospital emergency department has a duty to “evaluate all patients who present for service and to render emergency care to those who need it” (Showalter, 2015). The need for EMTALA was starting to be recognized in the 1960s (Showalter, 2015). According to Showalter in his text, EMTALA was developed with the “philosophy that healthcare at the time of an emergency is a moral right and must be provided regardless of the patient’s ability to pay” (2015). ...
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...CARTER v. HUCKS-FOLLISS, 131 N.C. App. 145, 500 S.E.2d 177 (1998) Relevant facts: The Moore General hospital is the defendant and the Carter's are the plaintiffs. This case is against the defendant's plea for a summary judgment. The plaintiff underwent a neurosurgery at the defendant hospital and it was performed by Dr. Folliss who has medical staff privileges at the hospital. Due to Dr. Folliss's negligence the plaintiff sustained quadri paresis, painful injuries and disfigurement. The plaintiff commenced action against the defendant hospital in granting clinical privileges to Dr.Folliss who was not board certified, in failing to ascertain if he was eligible to perform neurosurgery and in failing to adhere to the standards of JCAHO. Issue: Is the defendant hospital responsible for the harm caused to plaintiff in not adhering to standards of JCAHO. Holding decision: The appellate court reversed and remanded the summary judgment. Analysis/ Reasoning: The defendant hospital was accredited by JCAHO and as per JCAHO regulations anyone having surgical privileges at the hospital should be board certified. But Dr. Folliss had the surgical privileges and it was renewed even though he wasn't board certified and was not eligible for the exams anymore. The hospital did not take any action to ascertain if Dr. Folliss has taken and cleared the exam and hence it did not adhere to the JCAHO regulations Concur/Dissent: I concur with the decision of the court. SOKOL v. AKRON GENERAL MEDICAL...
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...12 Law and Health Care System Administration Jayme Blackwell Mary Jane Granoff Health Care Policy and Law Et. 12 Law and Health Care System Administration Jayme Blackwell Mary Jane Granoff Health Care Policy and Law Et. A relationship is a connection or association. To me a relationship is very important and healthy for an individual to form. A relationship is extremely important among physician and patient and hospital and patient. I thank communication and interaction is the most important factors in a relationship. These factors are very important when forming a relationship between physician and patient and hospital and patient. In relationships communication is very important and is essential among physician and patient. There are several types of communication and all are essential when it comes to dealing with the health of an individual. With communication comes interaction, which is also very important. Many feel bitter about their visits, because they are paying money for a service so that is what they expect. So when a relationship is formed they become surprised because that is not what they expected. So the relationship to them becomes so what special, and out of that relationship a patient builds confidents, trust, respect, and becomes relaxed. Once a patient builds a good relationship with the physician then they can create a relationship with the hospital. These will make the experience easier for all parties and build strength within the overall relationship...
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...Healthcare Law and Informatics Stephanie Masella Southern New Hampshire University “Technology to compute information has roughly doubled every 14 months between 1986 and 2007” (Rundio & Wilson, 2010 ). Health IT has changed the ways of communication and documentation. Informatics in healthcare has helped to increase the efficiency of our healthcare system. By moving away from hand written medical records, information has become more organized, more manageable, and much more easily accessible. Advancements in technology have allowed organizations to become more productive and more cost effective. Informatics has helped organizations in reducing their staff needs, ultimately saving them money. As healthcare IT continues to advance, patient safety, quality of care, and costs will continue to improve, and privacy and security will continue to be the goal for all electronic information. The use of electronic health information to improve the quality of care requires the exchange of electronic health records, which increases the need for security and privacy. Because of this, it was essential to establish collaborative governance guiding health information technology infrastructure (Rundio & Wilson, 2010) . The Health IT Patient Safety Action and Surveillance Plan addresses the role of healthcare informatics within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services promise to patient safety. The objective of the plan is to use healthcare informatics to make care safer...
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...1. Identify and explain at least three legal considerations. Three legal concepts that could be considered in this case are the doctrine of apparent agency, the captain-of-the-ship doctrine, and the doctrine of corporate liability. Under the doctrine of apparent agency, the nurses and other staff that remained on duty acted on behalf of the hospital because they were agents or employees at the time of snow storm. The day shift staff that remained on duty and nurse who agreed to come in assumed the role of agents that were authorized to act on behalf of the hospital. I am the C.E.O. of the hospital, and even though I am on vacation, my duties are still the same as they always are. It is my responsibility to make that the hospital is properly staff in the event of an emergency or the event of inclement weather. This is my duty whether I specifically carry out this duty or I assigned someone else to do so. It is also my duty to make sure that the staff carries out the duty of care to the patients at the hospital. Therefore, under the doctrine of apparent agency, I can be liable for the actions of those agents or employees working at the time of the incident. Under the rule, the principal, me the C.E.O., is bound by the acts of my agents with the apparent authority which I knowingly permit the agents to assume, or which I hold the agents out to the public as possessing. “Agency may be express, or implied from the acts of the principal, from his silence or lack of action,...
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...ASSIGNMENT: 3 ORGANIZATION OF A HEALTH CARE FACILITY HEALTH CARE POLICY LAW AND ETHICS AUGUST 10TH. 2013 Your reputation as a renowned administrator to successfully lead mergers and acquisitions of hospitals precedes you, and you have been hired to create and open a new specialty health care business. This is a clinic with physicians who specialize in the following areas: dermatology, gynecology, heart disease, respiratory disease, surgery, and gastroenterology. It is located in an exclusive neighborhood. 1. Determine whether you would incorporate and state the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. The first order of business is to analyze the demographics of the neighborhood and its residents. Incorporating so many specialties in an exclusive neighborhood can bring about several challenges such as an influx of a variety of individuals from all walks of life. In addition, there could be a traffic nightmare with having so many specialties in a neighborhood such as women with children, old and young adults. The advantages of incorporating multiple specialties in a new clinic would be financially rewarding for the owners. The reason for the financial rewards would be that if one specialty does not do well, then the other would offset any deficits incurred. Another advantage of group practice from the perspective of the provider include shared operation of the practice, joint ownership of facilities and equipment, centralized administrative...
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...Applied Legal Concepts in Healthcare Law Brewster v. University Hospital This paragraph will include a summary from the case which was obtained from the Healthcare Law Writing Assignment. In December 31, 1987 the Brewster’s had a daughter Emma that was born a week premature. Emma was transported to Children’s Hospital Medical Center the next day when she began showing signs of respiratory distress. She was treated by Dr. Craig Jackson, a neonatologist employed by the University of Washington. Emma suffered from hyperbilirubinemia, or jaundice, caused by elevated levels of bilirubin, a substance that is released into the bloodstream. Jaundice is not uncommon among infants as approximately a third or more of all newborns at the intensive care unit at Children’s hospital have jaundice. Greatly elevated bilirubin levels can result in permanent in brain damage. When Emma was admitted to Children’s Hospital, her serum bilirubin level was 4.2 micrograms per deciliter. It gradually increased to as high as 22.0 mcg/dl on January 7, 1988, then decreased to 5.7 mcg/dl on January 18, 1988. The type of jaundice Emma experience is generally treated with phototherapy. More serious cases are treated with a transfusion of all the blood in the infant’s body, a treatment entailing greater risks including cardiac arrhythmia, bleeding, bacterial infection and the development of air bubbles in the circulatory system. Dr. Martin prescribed phototherapy for Emma, which was unsuccessful, and Emma...
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...Civil procedure is defined as a body of law that describes the private rights and responsibilities of individuals (Pozgar, 2012). Civil procedure is a part of law that does not deal with crimes but instead involves actions filed by one individual against another (Pozgar, 2012). Civil procedure can be utilized in healthcare law in a variety of measures in health care law to include tort and contract laws (Pozgar, 2012). One major area within health care law that civil procedure is utilized is medical malpractice cases. Medical malpractice occurs when there is professional misconduct or lack of skill in providing medical treatment or services (McElrath, n.d). The victims of medical malpractice seek compensation for their physical and/or emotional injuries through a negligence action. A defendant physician may be found liable for medical malpractice if the plaintiff patient can establish that there was in fact a patient-physician relationship; that the physician breached the accepted standard of medical care in the treatment of the patient; and if the patient suffered an injury for which he or she should be compensated; and that the physician's violation of the standard of care was the cause of the injury (McElrath, n.d). Breach of contract is not a common medical malpractice theory since medical providers do not typically make promises about a particular outcome of a medical procedure. However, civil procedures can occur if a patient (plaintiff) sues for breach of contract...
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...decision which most certainly will lead to her demise. The hospital administrators seek legal counsel in order to save the situation. This case though a sad one, presents with it several repercussions. This paper will explain the various implications that June’s case presents in the contemporary world and the various paths used to derive the elusive “right” decisions on the way forward. The patients’ bill of rights is a document that was developed by the American Hospital Association in order to improve the relationship between the patient, the medical staff and employees in the provision of health care. It enumerates several rights that a patient is entitled to before, during and after getting treatment. While this document is not law; it is very important in ensuring that all activities towards a patient’s health are carried out with consideration for their values and dignity (Maryland Hospital, 2011). The patient’s bill of right gives June several privileges as a patient concerning her treatment. First, she can make her own decisions, pertaining to the plan of care before and during treatment. Initially June accepted the placement of the feeding tube thereby accepting the doctor’s plan of medical care, after being informed that the reason for placing the feeding tube was to save her life since she was severely anorexic. When she later refused the recommended treatment, she should be...
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...Individuals without health insurance coverage have a harder time keeping up with their health, as opposed to individuals with insurance coverage. Americans’ without healthcare coverage have a harder time living happier productive lives than those who do have healthcare. Most American’s main reason for not having healthcare insurance is because they cannot afford the skyrocketing premiums. Approximately 47 million American’s are living without health insurance because they do not have extra expendable income at the end of each month. Congress created the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to increase the number of American citizens covered by health insurance companies and decrease the cost of the rising healthcare system. According to the New York Times health insurance has gone up over the last decade by 15 percent since 2001. Some health insurance companies jack up the cost of healthcare because they dominate the healthcare market within their respective state. This simply provides for an unfair market because it leaves consumers only having to deal with the one Healthcare Insurance Company or not having healthcare insurance. Some insurance companies will only cover part of the doctor’s visit or emergency room visit and still require you to pay a co-pay making it harder to keep your insurance while paying for your regularly monthly expenses. According to the International Federation of Health Plans, the average routine office...
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...ROLE OF LAW IN THE U.S. HEALTHCARE SYSTEM USING THE LAW TO PROMOTE OUR POLICY GOALS AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES The study of law is more than simply memorizing a list of activities that are illegal, such as Medicare fraud or price-fixing. It is more than memorizing the penalties for particular violations, such as the number of years in prison one can receive for a class B felony or the fine for driving 50 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone. It is more than trying to remember the names of court cases or the citations to statutes and regulations. Instead, law is a policy discipline and a social science. Moreover, the law is not cast in stone, but is subject to change. For hundreds or perhaps thousands of years, people have reconsidered and changed the rules that govern their activities. In a democratic society, we have the power to make further changes in the laws by which we live. Therefore, as students and scholars of law, we not only study the current state of the law, but also what we think the law should be. In particular, we consider how we can use the law to accomplish our goals of public policy. We begin this type of analysis by identifying a practical problem. For example, we may want to focus on discrimination, violence, environmental pollution, or inadequate access to healthcare services. Then, we try to figure out how to use the law and the legal system to solve that particular problem by creating a new law or by changing an existing law. “There...
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