Writer Choice

43494Review the following lecture:

Tort Law and Medical Malpractice

Introduction:
As claims against physicians and hospitals for medical malpractice continue to grow, insurance companies choose to charge exorbitant insurance premiums or refuse coverage all together. Proponents of tort reform suggest a number of activities to help alleviate the pressure on physicians and hospitals, who struggle to find malpractice coverage at an affordable rate.

Tasks:
Choose one of the following three tort reform measures and discuss in detail the impact of that measure on patients, physicians, and healthcare organizations. Be sure to comment on whether the tort reform is feasible and necessary:

Limits of noneconomic damages
Statute of limitations
Alternative dispute resolutions
To support your work, use your course and textbook readings and also use the South University Online Library. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.

Your initial posting should be addressed at 300–500 words as noted in the attached PDF. Submit your document to this Discussion Area by the due date assigned. Be sure to cite your sources using APA format.

Tort Law and Medical Malpractice
Laws are enacted to benefit society through the regulation of individual actions. The primary purpose of such laws is to prevent harm and to protect rights. The types of laws that most commonly impact patients and healthcare service providers are tort law, criminal law, and contract law. As a healthcare administrator, you will want to have a working knowledge of tort law and negligence.

A tort is any wrongdoing committed against a person or property that the court can remedy with a specific action. The objectives of tort law are:

Peacekeeping: Accomplished through the provision of options besides retaliation
Culpability: Accomplished through the assignment of fault
Deterrence: Accomplished through punishments designed to discourage future torts
Compensation: Accomplished through indemnification of the wronged
In healthcare, the most common type of tort case involves negligence—any negative event stemming from carelessness or poor judgment. Such acts may include the administration of incorrect medication or performing procedures on incorrect patients and failure to administer medication or to follow up with patients with abnormal test results. Such negligence on the part of healthcare professionals is called malpractice. Acts of negligence are grouped into the following categories:

Malfeasance: Engaging in unlawful or inappropriate acts
Misfeasance: Performing an act improperly, thus leading to injury
Nonfeasance: Failing to act when capable to do so
In healthcare settings, malfeasance may involve a provider who performs a procedure that is against the law, such as a late-term abortion. A case of misfeasance may involve an incorrect surgical procedure either on the wrong side or on the wrong patient. Finally, nonfeasance is when a trained provider fails to order the proper tests, procedures, or medications to promote health in a patient. Such malpractice claims are increasing in frequency not only due to an increasingly litigious society but also due to increasing demands on healthcare providers. Stress from significant student loans, limited opportunities for sleep, and multihour shifts can all contribute to medical error and malpractice.

Medical Malpractice Cases
Review each case to learn more.
Case 1
Case 2
Case 3
Case 4
Case 5
Displays five examples of medical malpractice cases.
Approximately 8,000 complainants were awarded $190 million by Johns Hopkins Hospital after Dr. Nikita Levy, an established gynecologist in Baltimore, Maryland, secretly photographed his patients during medical examinations.

Additional Materials
From your course textbook, Legal and Ethical Issues for Health Professionals, review the following chapter:

Introduction to Law
From the South University Online Library, review the following articles:

Court Allows HIPAA Negligence Claim
Clinical Negligence Litigation: Balancing the Interests
Is Access to Justice Becoming a Lost Cause?