Law, Liability, and Ethics for Medical Office Professionals

Myrtle Flight is the former Assistant Director of the Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton, Massachusetts. She has also been an adjunct instructor at Massasoit Community College in Canton and Northeastern University in Boston. Michael R. Meacham, JD, MPH, is associate professor in the Department of Health Leadership and Management at the Medical University of South Carolina, where he teaches Health Policy, Strategic Management and Change Leadership. He also is director of the Office of International and Special Programs, coaches case competition teams and counsels students individually and in informal groups regarding professional development. Meacham has an extensive background in development, enactment and implementation of public policy as well as in leadership and management of health care organizations. In 1998, he was named director of Health System Development for Connecticut's Office of Health Care Access and led administrative improvements in its Certificate of Need Law and other regulatory reforms affecting hospitals. In 2001, he was named vice president for Integrated Health Services at Eastern Connecticut Health Network and was responsible for multiple health care units including administrative and clinical personnel. Named an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University in 2003, he led dramatic improvement in the MHA Program. In addition, Meacham served in the Kansas House of Representatives for eight years. He received his J.D. from the University of Kansas and his M.P.H. from the University of Kansas School of Medicine and Wichita State University.

PREFACE
1. FROM EXAMINING ROOM TO COURTROOM
Importance of Legal Knowledge to Medical Office Personnel; Duty of the Physician; Standard of Care; Parameters of Responsibility in the Medical Office; Practicing Medicine
2. FUNCTIONING WITHIN THE LEGAL SYSTEM
The Hierarchy of Law; Administrative Law; Common Law; Medical Malpractice; Preparing A Case for Court; The Art of Examination
3. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: INTENT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
Division Between Criminal and Civil Law; Criminal Causes of Action Involving Health Care Personnel; Civil Causes of Action—Intentional Torts
4. YOUR WORDS MAY FORM A CONTRACT
Formation of a Contract; Classification of Contracts; Breach of Contract; Agency; Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA); Termination of Contracts
5. ANATOMY OF A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE
Negligence or Malpractice?; Elements of a Civil Malpractice Suit; Informed Consent; Impact of Medical Malpractice Suits; Analysis of the Problem; Practicing Preventive Medicine in the Medical Office; Defenses to a Medical Malpractice Cause of Action; Malpractice Insurance; Product Liability
6. HEALTH CARE IS BIG BUSINESS
Business Structures of Medical Practice: Managed Care; Telemedicine; Government Regulation of the Medical Practitioner; Employment Law; Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); Telecommunications; Federal Age Discrimination Act (FADA); Equal Pay Act; Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); Workers' Compensation; Social Security; Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA); Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA); Medical Waste; Unions and Health Care Workers; Working Conditions; Collections
7. THE MEDICAL RECORD: THE MEDICAL ASSISTANT'S RESPONSIBILITY
Ownership of the Medical Record; Types of Medical Records; Privacy and Privileged Communication; Access to the Medical Record; Credibility of the Medical Record
8. INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
Ethics; Morals; Etiquette; Ethical Environment of Health Care; Importance of Studying Ethics
9. PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIALITY, PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION: A NEXUS OF LAW AND ETHICS
Disclosure of Personal Matters; The Medical Office; Limits of Confidentiality; Confidentiality as an Ethical Dilemma; The Right to Be Left Alone; Developing an Ethical Decision-Making Process; HIPAA
10. BIRTH AND THE BEGINNING OF LIFE
Genetics; Rights of Couples to Have a Child; Rights of the Fetus; Rights of a Newborn; Rights of a Child; Autonomy Versus Paternalism for the Child; Allocation of Resources
11. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND THE LIVING
Creeds; Time; Allocation of Resources; Experiments; Drug Testing on the Job; Autonomy Versus Paternalism
12. ETHICS: DEATH AND DYING
Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders (DNR); Removal of Life Support; Formats for Advanced Directives; AIDS; The Geriatric Patient; Suicide
APPENDIX—Answers to Cases for Discussion
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY