LEGAL ASPECTS OF HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION REVIEW EXAM QUESTIONS FULLY SOLVED

SOURCES OF LAW Common, statutory, administrative COMMON LAW a judicial decision that may be used as a standard in subsequent similar care RES JUDICATA "the thing is decided" - refers to that which has been previously acted on or decided by the courts STARE DECISIS "let the decision stand" - provides that when a decision is rendered in a lawsuit involving a particular set of facts, another lawsuit involving an identical or substantially similar situation is to be resolved in the same manner as the first lawsuit. A lawsuit is decided by applying the rules and principles of prior cases. STATUTORY LAW "enacted law" - passed by legislative bodies such as Congress (federal system) and state legislature (state system). May be amended, repealed, or expanded by the appropriate legislative body. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW body of public law issued by the state or federal agencies to direct enacted laws of the state and federal governments. Legislative bodies enacting laws cannot possibly oversee the laws they pass, so they need to depend on administrative agencies FUNCTIONS OF LEGISLATIVE to enact laws, as well as to amend andor repeal existing legislation. FUNCTIONS OF EXECUTIVE to administer and enforce the law. FUNCTIONS OF JUDICIAL BRANCH to adjudicate, Resolve disputes in accordance with the law. PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES cabinet level department in the executive branch of the government and is responsible to develop and implement appropriate administrative regulations for carrying out national health and human services objectives. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH) is the principal federal biomedical research agency and is the largest biomedical research agency in the world. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, quality, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products, and medical devices...also responsible for the safety and security of most of our nation's food supply, all cosmetics, dietary supplements and products that give off radiation NEGLIGENCE is a tort, an omission or commission of an act that a reasonably prudent person would or would not do under given circumstances. It is a form of heedlessness or carelessness that constitute a departure from the standard of care generally imposed on members of society. Commission of an act would include administering the wrong medication; the wrong dosage of a medication; and the wrong medication to the wrong patient; performing a surgical procedure without the patient's consent; also performing a surgical procedure on the wrong patient or body part or the wrong surgical procedure. Omission of an act would include failure to conduct a thorough history and physical examination; or to assess and reassess a patient's nutritional needs; even failure to administer medications as prescribed; or to order diagnostics tests. Also, failure to follow up on abnormal or critical test results; or even failure to conduct a "time out" to ensure that the correct surgical procedure is being performed on the correct patient at the correct site. FORMS OF NEGLIGENCE: Malfeasance performance of an unlawful or improper act. "wrongful act" FORMS OF NEGLIGENCE: Misfeasance "improper performance of an act", resulting in injury to another. FORMS OF NEGLIGENCE: Nonfeasance "failure to act" when there is a duty to act as a reasonably prudent person would in similar circumstance. OBJECTIVES OF TORT LAW: TORT a civil wrong committed by one individual against another that may be classified as a criminal wrong OBJECTIVES OF TORT LAW: STANDARD OF CARE conduct that is expected of an individual in a given situation. The general standard of acceptable care is based on what a reasonably prudent person would do or not do acting under the same or similar circumstances. OBJECTIVES OF TORT LAW: DUTY SET BY STATUE various state statutes can be used in establishing the duty to care. OBJECTIVES OF TORT LAW: DUTY SET BY POLICIES & PROCEDURES the standard of care that employees and agents of a healthcare entity must follow can be established through the healthcare organization's internal policies, procedures, rules, and regulations. Duties come from: 1) Accreditation 2) Sources 3) State Law Community Versus National Standard of Care moving to national standard of care, which means that courts view a national standard of care as more reasonable than varying standard of care by locales. Professional Held to a Higher Standard holds those with special skills to a standard of care that is reasonable considering their special abilities and knowledge. Specialists are held to a higher standard of care than non-specialists. Who in court establishes standard of care? Expert A tort is a ________ wrong. Civil Who are the parties to a negligence lawsuit? Plaintiff and Defendant What are the 3 categories of tort law? Negligent torts, Intentional torts, and Strict Liability Negligence of a professional persons is called Malpractice What is the "general standard of acceptable care"? Reasonably Prudent Person BREACH OF DUTY is the failure to conform to or the departure from a required duty of care owed to a person. INJURY includes physical harm, pain, suffering, and loss of income or reputation. A defendant may be negligent and still not incur liability if no injury or actual damages results to the plaintiff. Without harm or injury, there is no liability. CAUSATION the element of causation requires that there be a reasonable, close, and causal connection or relationship between the defendant's negligent conduct and the resulting damages. FORESEEABILITY is the reasonable anticipation that harm or injury is likely to result from a commission or omission of an act. Foreseeability involves guarding against that which is probable and like to happen, not against that which is only remotely possible ASSAULT is a deliberate threat coupled with the apparent present ability to do physical harm to another. NO actual contact or damage is necessary. BATTERY is the intentional touching of another's person in a socially impermissible manner, without that person's consent. It is intentional c