1. Legal Responsibilities

2. Legal Aspects of Health CAre
Objectives:
Essential Questions:
Identify lawsuits common to the health care field. Identify the rights of patients Explain informed consent and why it is important in the health care field Explain why confidentiality is so important in the health care field Identify patient's rights and choices for end of life decisions
How important is client autonomy in the delivery of health care? What are advance directives and why are they important? What is informed consent? How does confidentiality and HIPAA affect you and your client?

3. Scope of Practice
Legal description of what a specific HCP may and may not do
Legal responsibilities are those that are authorized or based on law
A. Civil Law: focuses on legal relationships between people and the protection of a person’s rights
B. Criminal Law: focuses on wrongs against a person, property, or society

4. Legal Responsibilities
Relationship between HCP & pt is contractual:
Implies everyone agrees to do something
Parts of the contract
Duty to act: HCP has legal duty to provide care
Compensation: payment for services
Mutual agreement: obligation to provide services for compensation
Breach of contract:
One party fails to do their part of contract

5. Lawsuits Common to Healthcare Field
Torts occur when a person is harmed or injured because a health care provider does not meet the established or expected standards of care
Malpractice:
Professional misconduct or lack of professional skill that results in injury to pt
Ex: practicing without a license
Negligence:
Failure to give reasonable care either intentionally or unintentionally
Ex: failure to put side rails up

6. Lawsuits Common to Healthcare Field
Assault:
Threat of harmful act
Ex: telling a pt you will hit them if they don’t take their medicine
Battery:
Touching or use of force without consent
Ex: drawing pt’s blood w/o consent
False imprisonment:
Restraining pt against will either physically or w/ verbal threats
Ex: use of restraints w/o Dr’s orders

7. Lawsuits Common to Healthcare Field
Abandonment:
Leaving pt needing additional care once care initiated or transferring care of pt to someone with less training
Ex: leaving pt before next shift arrives
Invasion of privacy:
Unnecessarily exposing pt or revealing personal info about pt w/o consent
Ex: not pulling curtain closed when giving care
Ex: sending bill to insurance w/o written consent

8. Lawsuits Common to Healthcare Field
Defamation:
False statements causing ridicule or damage to pt’s reputation
Libel: false written statement
Ex: drawing & posting a caricature of pt
Slander: false spoken statement
Ex: telling news media pt has a drug problem when they do not

9. Patient’s Bill of Rights

10. Patient’s Bill of Rights
Promotes autonomy and self-determination
Identifies that basic rights all patients can expect to receive
Visible in all hospitals and a copy given to each patient upon admissions

11. Patient’s Bill of Rights
Right to considerate and respectful care
To obtain complete current info concerning diagnosis, treatment & prognosis in terms they can understand
Informed consent of proposed procedure, along with risks; info regarding alternatives
To refuse treatment to extent of law and be informed of the medical consequences of this action

12. Patient’s Bill of Rights
Case discussion, consultation, examination and treatment should be conducted discretely. Those not directly involved must have pt’s permission to be present
To expect all communication & records be treated as confidential
Reasonable response to request for services based on urgency of the case
Information as to relationship of hospital and individuals who are treating them

13. Patient’s Bill of Rights
Be advised if propose to perform human experimentation affecting care or treatment. Pt has right to refuse to participate in research projects
To expect reasonable continuity of care
To examine & receive explanation of bill regardless of source of payment
To know what hospital rules & regulations apply to conduct as a pt

14. Informed Consent

15. Informed Consent
Client’s right to receive information about their condition
Right to make a decision regarding treatment based upon that information

16. Informed Consent Implies that the client knows:
Proposed method of treatment
Advantages and risk of treatment
Alternative methods of treatment and risks involved
Possible outcomes of treatment vs. no treatment

17. Clients who cannot give informed consent
Minors
Mentally incompetent
Life-threatening emergency situations
Under influence of drugs or alcohol

18. Confidentiality

19. Confidentiality
Includes all data, medical and personal, that is disclosed within the hospital
Client information can only be discussed with other health care providers who are involved in the care
“HIPAA” stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
provides consumers with greater access to health care insurance
protects the privacy of health care data
promotes more standardization and efficiency in the health care industry

20. Legal exceptions to maintaining confidentiality
An emergency
Client is incompetent or incapacitated
Protecting third parties
Required by law (STD’s, child abuse, births, deaths)
Asking to commit or hospitalize a psychiatrically ill client

21. Medical Record

22. Medical Record A legal document All information must be factual
Subjective should be labeled as opinion
Any information that is not relevant to care of client should not be recorded

23. Errors in Health Care A “mistake” is not a malicious error
Action when error occurs:
Erasures not allowed
Draw single line through error, initial, date, write correct info
Inform supervisor of error

24. Advance Directives

25. Advance Directives
Legal documents giving instructions regarding health care treatment in event no longer able to voice desires
Prepared with Dr. at pt’s direction & placed in medical records

26. Types of Advance Directives
The Living Will:
Instructions to physician to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining procedures in terminal illness
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR):
If suffer cardiac or respiratory arrest, health care providers do not try to revive you by any means
Durable Power of Attorney:
Name another person to make medical decisions for you if become unable to