Medical law plays an important role in medical facility
procedures and the way we care for patients. We live in a
litigious society, where patients, relatives, and others are
inclined to sue health-care practitioners, health-care facilities,
manufacturers of medical equipment and products,
and others when medical outcomes are not acceptable. It
is important for a medical professional to understand medical
law, ethics, and protected health information as it
pertains to HIPAA. There are two main reasons for medical
professionals to study law and ethics: The first is to help
you function at the highest professional level by providing
competent, compassionate health care to patients, and
the second is to help you avoid legal problems that can
threaten your ability to earn a living.
A knowledge of medical law and ethics can help you
gain perspective in the following three areas:
- The rights, responsibilities, and concerns of health-care
consumers. Not only do health-care professionals need
to be concerned about how law and ethics impact their
respective professions, they must also understand how
legal and ethical issues affect patients. As medical
technology advances and the use of computers increases,
patients want to know more about their options
and rights as well as more about the
responsibilities of health-care practitioners. Patients
want to know who and how their information is used
and the options they have regarding health-care treatments.
Patients have come to expect favorable outcomes
from medical treatment, and when these
expectations are not met, lawsuits may result.
- The legal and ethical issues facing society, patients,
and health-care professionals as the world changes.
Every day new technologies emerge with solutions to
biological and medical issues. These solutions often
involve social issues, and we are faced with decisions,
for example, regarding reproductive rights, fetal stem
cell research, and confidentiality with sensitive medical
records.
- The impact of rising costs on the laws and ethics of
health-care delivery. Rising costs, both of health-care
insurance and of medical treatment in general, can lead
to questions concerning access to health-care services
and the allocation of medical treatment. For example,
should everyone, regardless of age or lifestyle, have the
same access to scarce medical commodities such as
transplant organs or highly expensive drugs?
In today's society, medical treatment and decisions
surrounding health care have become complex. It is therefore
important to be knowledgeable and aware of the issues
and the laws that govern patient care. |