1. Chapter 4: Law, Ethics, and Professionalism in Health Care

2. Law Types of Law Public: government vs. citizens Criminal
Constitutional
Administrative
Civil: private citizen vs. private citizen

3. Law (cont’d)
Public vs. civil law

4. Law (cont’d) Types of Law (cont’d) Common
Traditional civil law of area or region
Based on judge’s rulings of cases
Statutory
Enacted by legislatures
Enforced by courts

5. Law (cont’d) Types of Law (cont’d) Tort Wrongful act causing harm
Requires restitution
Intentional vs. unintentional

6. Law (cont’d)
Kinds of torts

7. Law (cont’d) Types of Law (cont’d)
Assault: threat or attempt to touch a person without consent
Battery: touching a person without consent
Invasion of privacy
False imprisonment
Defamation of character
Libel
Slander

8. Law (cont’d) Liability and Negligence
Negligence: careless or senseless behavior resulting in harm
Malpractice
Illegal, unethical, negligent, or immoral behavior
Results in failure of duties or responsibility
Reporting abuse

9. Law (cont’d) Protecting Patients’ Rights
Advocacy: supporting best interests of all patients
Consent
Informed
Implied

10. Law (cont’d) Confidentiality and HIPAA Patient’s right to privacy
Privacy rule
Protection of patient’s personal health information
Exceptions

11. Law (cont’d) Right to Die Living will
Durable power of attorney for health care

12. Ethics Ethical Principles Autonomy Justice Nonmaleficence (do no harm)
Beneficence (do good)
Veracity (honesty)
Fidelity (keep promises)
Confidentiality

13. Ethics (cont’d) Joint Commission
Mission: improve safety & quality of care to public
Accredits health care facilities
Supports performance improvement
Established standards of care related to ethics

14. Ethics (cont’d) Ethics Committees
Multidisciplinary teams for ethical decision-making
Required by Joint Commission for all health care institutions

15. Ethics (cont’d) Professional Codes of Ethics: Common Factors
Quality of care
Primary commitment to patient
Education
Collegiality
Ethics
Collaboration
Research
Resource utilization
Confidentiality

16. Ethics (cont’d) Ethical Decision-Making Rational & systematic
Based on ethical principles, not emotions or intuition
Serves patient’s best interest
Preserves integrity of all involved

17. Ethics (cont’d)
Systematic approach for ethical decision-making

18. Ethics (cont’d) Ethical Dilemmas Genetic testing Stem cell research
Cloning
Physician-assisted suicide

19. Professionalism Definition and Characteristics of Professionalism
A set of values, behaviors, and relationships that form a foundation on which patient and colleague trust is formed
Self-regulation
Adherence to legal & ethical guidelines

20. Professionalism (cont’d)
Competence
Lifelong learning
Continuing education units
Membership in peer association or professional organization
Humility & willingness to give & receive constructive criticism

21. Professionalism (cont’d)
Professional Associations: Benefits
Continuing education classes
Subscriptions to professional publications
Access to online resources
Professional conferences, conventions, & workshops
Networking opportunities
Information on new technologies
Management tools
Ethics guidelines
Patient educational materials