Discussion:
“Application of Tort Law in Health Care Project Management Protocols” Please respond to the following:
- * From the scenario, analyze the development of health care project management predicated on tort law. Ascertain the major ways in which tort law provides solutions to health care concerns, in light of the complexities of 21st Century health care administration roles.
- Analyze the development of tort law from the concept and degree of negligence to the application of the law to strict / product liability. Evaluate the success of tort law in providing solutions to 21st Century health care disputes. Rationalize your answer by using any applicable legal precedents.
Response Sirlin:
* From the scenario, analyze the development of health care project management predicated on tort law. Ascertain the major ways in which tort law provides solutions to health care concerns, in light of the complexities of 21st Century health care administration roles.
Tort law encompasses 3 basic types, Negligence, Intentional Torts and Strict Liability. All 3 of these items apply to the healthcare setting because they all can occur pretty commonly. Negligence in its simplest form is an act that occurs without intent but the result is someone (the patient) suffering or being damaged in some way, even up to death. The key word for this is intent, which would bring us to the 2nd category which would be an intentional tort. An intentional tort would be something like a battery of a patient (heard of a lot in elder care facilities lately), assault, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy and even inflicting mental distress. Intentional torts, although they do occur, would be, hopefully, the least likely to occur in a healthcare setting especially when most go into healthcare to help others. Finally there would be Strict Liability and that is where the organization, department, industry, manufacturer etc., would be held responsible for the damage done. For an example, if the power goes out, something seen frequently in the state of FL where I am from, and the generator does not activate as it is supposed to and someone having a procedure dies because of this, the organization can be held liable for this, as they are supposed to test the generator on a regular basis, and possibly the manufacturer of the generator can be held liable, maybe because of defective parts. But in any case the damage was so sever that someone other than the direct provider is being held responsible. Another example is if an IV pump delivers the wrong dosage to a patient which ends in the patients demise. Although, it may be the provider error for setting the pump to the wrong settings, or it may be a manufacturer error, the organization can be held liable even if it were the provider who set the settings incorrectly. Or the manufacturer may be held accountable for a defect.
In any case torts are something that are commonly thought of in the healthcare industry as many things can go wrong. Project managerment is always a concern as when there is a project that goes on especially a large scale one that can effect the patients there is always risks. When risks becomes imminent possibility of torts are much greater if someone is hurt.
- Analyze the development of tort law from the concept and degree of negligence to the application of the law to strict / product liability. Evaluate the success of tort law in providing solutions to 21st Century health care disputes. Rationalize your answer by using any applicable legal precedents.
As explained above tort law falls into 3 main categories, especially in healthcare. The main and most commonalty seen torts are basic negligence. Not to soften the harsh reality of negligence but in its primal form, negligence is when something goes wrong and someone is hurt or damage is done. There is not intention on the part of the provider to do harm but yet harm has occurred in some way shape or form and the provider will be held accountable by the court system. When the negligence is so great that it threatens the good of the public that negligence is then turned into Strict Product Liability. Strict product liability is when the damage that occurs is so sever that someone should have known about it and someone else is also held liable for the damage done. This someone can be the organization involved or the manufacturer of the product. Another words the provider may be held accountable for the damage that was done but it goes higher than he or she and is a direct reflection of organization who authorized the use of the product and / or the manufacturer of the product. No matter what it is going to reach an accountability level that will make sure the public safety is not put into the same jeopardy again (hopefully).
Response Chelsea:
From the scenario, analyze the development of health care project management predicated on tort law. Ascertain the major ways in which tort law provides solutions to health care concerns, in light of the complexities of 21st Century health care administration roles.
The scenario discussed the elements of negligence in the health care field. The healthcare industry in one of the most regulated industries in the United States. In order to have successful management, each individual must be able to understand legal and ethical laws. Tort laws involve civil suits, which are actions brought to protect an individual’s private rights.
There are two major categories of torts typically seen: Intentional and Ordinary negligence. Intentional negligence is the act or harmful intent and not providing the general standard of care for each patient. Medical battery is classified as an intentional tort. (Pozgar, 2016). If a surgeon is operating on a patients left knee and decides to make corrections of the right knee, then he will be held accountable because he failed to get permission from the patient prior to the surgery to operate on both knees. Ordinary negligence is the failure to do under circumstances what a reasonable person would or would not do. One example of ordinary negligence is the surgeon’s failure to remove a surgical sponge from a patient’s body during surgery. A report noted in Huffington Post revealed that as many as 98,000 people a year die because of mistakes made in hospitals. The report, based on earlier studies, also found that for every 100 people hospitalized, one patient suffers a serious, preventable injury. Due to the increase in injuries, the cost of malpractice insurance has increased within the last ten years and malpractice lawsuits are by far the most defended of negligence cases.
Technology has advanced tremendously in the 21st Century. Patients have the ability to have direct access to their physician via email or text. More medical facilities are built everyday and provide smaller practice size and this enables shorter wait for appointments and less-crowded waiting. Most importantly, the physician and nurse have immediate access to each patient medical and financial record electronically. The medical field is advances and producing positive results each and every day.
Analyze the development of tort law from the concept and degree of negligence to the application of the law to strict / product liability. Evaluate the success of tort law in providing solutions to 21st Century health care disputes. Rationalize your answer by using any applicable legal precedents.
Products liability differs from medical negligence in that medical negligence focuses on whether the defendant’s actions were reasonable when measured against the medical standard of care, while products liability focuses on whether the product was reasonably safe or not.Different states have different laws on products liability, but generally a product manufacturer or seller is liable under products liability law if the product contains a natural defect and that causes injury to a probable user of the product. Products liability law holds not just the manufacturer of the product liable, but also the manufacturers of the product’s component parts, the wholesaler, and the retailer.
My friends husband was diagnosed with congestive heart failure six years ago at the age of 32 and the doctor requested surgery for a defibrillator(small electronic devices implanted in the patient’s heart that deliver electric shocks to maintain normal heart rhythm) in order to jump start his heart if it stopped. So many people were giving him their opinion about this procedure and one lady suffered injuries from that same device and told him not to have the device implanted. My friend and her husband were both scared so they sat down together, prayed and discussed all issues and options with a specialist in the field. My friends husband had the surgery and is doing great. They learned not to listen to others but to be optimistic. Optimism is associated with better health and a longer life.
www.about.com/Negligence/In/Healthcarecom
www.healthcare.gov
www.huffingtonpost.com/…/medical-malpractice iotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/products/healthcare./products
Pozgar, G. D., & Santucci, N. M. (2016). Legal aspects of health care administration. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
