Legal Issues in Healthcare
Privacy for every patient is right that has been guaranteed in the country by different laws. However, certain exceptional circumstances might make it necessary to release patient records. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) has stipulated the conditions that might be necessary to give patient records in a court of law, especially when a medical practitioner has been subpoenaed. The records can only be disclosed if a state judge makes a request or if one of the parties in the case has applied for a qualified protective order. Thus, the hospital should check and ensure that all medical records that will be submitted during the court proceedings will not be used in any other place or for any other purpose. For the hospital records to be admitted as evidence, they need to give information about the irregularities conducted by the medical practitioner. Every medical procedure has to have a corresponding charge. Thus, if the document shows what the patient was treated for and what they were charged, then it will be admissible in court (American Medical Association., & ProQuest (Firm), 2017). Medical records are critical to every patient since they might be used for future reference when the patient might need to seek help from another institution. Thus, the records have to be recorded in the right manner, which will help every other medical practitioner in their practice. Thus, the records cannot be “hear-say” as the defendant’s lawyer might be trying to object. Also, the documents can be used in a legal proceeding which makes them critical in the court process. There have been laws which have been developed to protect their privacy and ensure they do not fall into the wrong hands. The guidelines that have been developed to protect any document about a patient that is written down by a medical practitioner shows that it is a critical document.
Peer review committees are critical in finding out the truth about various malpractices that are committed in a hospital setting. However, most of the committees do not allow their findings to be used in a court process. Most state laws protect such reports from being subject of any court proceeding even in a case where there is a subpoena (Carroll, 2016). All the states in the country have specific laws that protect the privileges of a peer review committee. The reports are usually directed towards improving the healthcare experience and not necessarily having to victimize medical practitioners. Thus, it can be hard for any institution to release such a report that might negatively impact on their practice. The records are only given out when the committee agrees in writing that they would want to release the documents. Thus, the findings are well protected by law and are not subject to any court proceedings. Therefore, if the committee does not want to be part of the process, they have the right not to submit their report, and no law compels to do otherwise. The safety of the records kept should be guaranteed by the institution that is holding such records. The hospital takes responsibility for any changes that are made to the patient records(Hosek, Straus, Arroyo Center & RAND Health, 2013). Thus, they have to develop a system that allows only qualified medical practitioners to have access to the patient’s records. Besides, the changes made should be by specific medical practitioners in the institution. Thus, if a staff member deletes a portion of a patient’s medical record, both the staff member and the hospital will be charged for the malpractice. The hospital has to develop a system that will be free from any manipulation from unauthorized personnel. One critical measure that can be undertaken by hospitals to protect patient records is by ensuring that only specific people have access to patient records. Only qualified doctors that work in the hospital should have access to any documents that relate to patients. With such a measure, there will be the protection of every document relating to patients.
References
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American Medical Association., & ProQuest (Firm). (2017). Code of medical ethics of the American Medical Association. Chicago: American Medical Association. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qut/detail.action?docID=55679Top of Form
Carroll, J. (2016). Privacy. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. Top of Form
Hosek, S. D., Straus, S. G., Arroyo Center, & RAND Health. (2013). Patient privacy, consent, and identity management in health information exchange: Issues for the military health system. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/id/10744763.
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