This document discusses several topics relating to medical law and ethics, including: - Medical law concerns the rights of medical professionals and patients, focusing on confidentiality, negligence, malpractice, and criminal aspects of medical treatment. - Medical ethics applies ethical principles to medicine and healthcare and has its roots in the work of Hippocrates. - Scope of practice defines what procedures various licensed medical professionals are allowed to perform based on their education, experience, and competency. - Other legal topics covered include battery, invasion of privacy, negligence, malpractice, consent, and the impact of laws like HIPAA on protecting patient privacy and confidentiality.

1. LAW AND ETHICS
INT RODUCT ION TO HEAL TH SCI ENCE

2. MEDICAL LAW
•Medical law is the branch of law which
concerns the rights and responsibilities
of medical professionals and the rights
of the patient.
• The main branches of medical law are
the law on confidentiality, negligence,
and torts in relation to medical
treatment (medical malpractice),
and criminal law in the field of
medical practice and treatment.

3. MEDICAL ETHICS
• Medical ethics is a field of applied ethics
that applies to the field of medicine and
health care.
• Concern about medical ethics goes back
in the History of Medicine with the work
of Hippocrates.

4. SCOPE OF PRACTICE
• Scope of practice is used for health care professions
that defines the procedures, actions, and processes
that are permitted for the licensed individual.
• The scope of practice is limited to that which the law
allows for specific education and experience, and
specific demonstrated competency.

5. BATTERY
• The actual physical harm or
unwarranted touching of another
person.
• If a medical procedure is done on
a patient without getting
permission, it may be considered
battery.

6. INVASION OF PRIVACY
• This is the right to be left alone and
to not have your information
become public.
• The Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996
addresses the security and privacy
of health data.

7. INVASION OF PRIVACY
• Invasion of Privacy also involves
maintaining a person’s modesty
during care.
• Hospital gowns are usually open in
the back which may unnecessarily
expose the patient when they are
walking or laying in bed.
• Care must be taken to make sure the
patient is appropriately covered.

8. NEGLIGENCE
• Negligence if the failure to do something
that a prudent person would ordinarily do
OR not doing something you have been
trained to do.
• Example: Giving the wrong
medication to the wrong patient
because the nurse did not check
the patient’s wrist band

9. MALPRACTICE
• Malpractice is professional
negligence.
• Malpractice literally means “bad
practice.”
• It has come to mean professional
care that has led to injury due to
faulty practice or neglect.

10. CONSENT
• Consent to treat is required from
every conscious, mentally
competent adult before care can
begin.
• Three types of consent:
• Expressed
• Implied
• Informed

11. EXPRESSED CONSENT
• The patient expressly authorizes the
health care provider to provide care
or transport.
• Patient must be informed of the steps
of the procedures and all related
risks, benefits, and alternatives to
treatment.
• Patient must be of legal age and
able to make a rational decision to
give consent.

12. IMPLIED CONSENT
• Consent assumed from the
unconscious patient requiring
emergency intervention.
• Based on the assumption that the
unconscious patient would
consent to lifesaving interventions.

13. INFORMED CONSENT
•Telling the patient what
medical procedure will be
performed, the expected
outcome, and the possible
complications.

14. IMPACT LAWS OF HEALTH CARE
• Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) did
not seem to make much of an impact
on the average citizen, until the spring
of 2003 when those seeking treatment
had to sign forms at every health care
facility and office indicating they had
read about the new confidentiality
practices.

15. HIPAA
• What is HIPAA?
• In order to update and streamline the insurance
reimbursement process, HIPAA was created.
• There was also increasing concern about the
easy access to medical records and private
information since most of them are found in
electronic formats.
• Congress included national standards and
mandates in HIPAA for “electronic health care
transactions, codes, identifiers, and security.”

16. HIPAA
• HIPAA set a time line for implementation of
confidentiality guidelines to safeguard
medical records and individual medical
information.
• HIPAA helps to protect the use of medical
information that can be traced back to an
individual.
• HIPAA allows patients easier access to their
personal medical records while limiting
access to records by other institutions.

17. HIPAA
• Confidential information is
privileged communication which
should only be given out on a
need-to-know basis.
• This means information should
ONLY be shared with those who
are involved in the direct care of
the individual patient.

18. HIPAA
• It is important to avoid elevator or cafeteria
chatter where patient information may be
heard by those not affiliated direct patient
care.
• This includes all medical information of every
patient.
• Maintenance of confidentiality
helps to promote trust between
the patient and the health care
community.

19. HIPAA
• There is certain health care information that can be
publically disclosed.
• Some incidents need to be reported to the county
and state health departments including
• Births
• Deaths
• Cancers
• Traffic accidents involving the use of drugs or alcohol
• Communicable diseases
-AIDS -Tuberculosis
-Hepatitis -West Nile Virus
-Sexually Transmitted Diseases -SARS