Healthcare Facility Liability Issues
RESPONSE 1
There are various liability issues that can arise if a medical provider does not take the proper precautions to avoid for any of these circumstances to occur in the first place. Following proper protocols, regulations and procedures will direct medical providers to maintain medical compliance in a medical setting. Most people say that patient confidentiality is the most common liable issue when working in a hospital or clinic, but I think that keeping accurate medical records is the most common liability in any medical setting. Maintaining accurate medical records allows medical providers to accurately treat the correct patient. Schedulers, medical intake personnel and administrative front desk check in personnel must be able to obtain accurate patient information. This means retrieving correct name, date of birth, sex, and other contact information to allow Nurses to have patient identifiers to match the correct patient chart. The miss spelling of names, wrong date of birth or sex can cause malpractice issues to occur. This is how huge medical mistakes can occur when inaccurate records, exams, and procedures occur.
RESPONSE2
Although patients come into medical facilities expecting to get better, there are times when issues occur from services provided that can make their health worst. As a healthcare professional, you are responsible for any injuries caused by the treatment you provide to a patient. When this happens, patients are likely to file a malpractice lawsuit. Most injuries occur due to mistakes, so I believe the most common liability issue is failure to stay up to date on standards and training. The most serious liability issue would be a missed or delayed diagnosis which can lead to death. There are a few types of medical practices that require the patient to sue the physician and not the health care facility. Solo practice is where the physician practices alone and is responsible for all liabilities. There is also a partnership medical practice where there is a legal agreement to share the operation of the business, but each individual physician is responsible for their legal issues. Affirmative defense is available when a legal issue arises and allows the physician or hospital to provide evidence that can defend negligence allegations. Also, the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) of 1986 was created to provide peer review for health care professionals by health care professionals. This helps with showing there was no malpractice, and they didn’t act negligently.