PHS - Ch. 4: Professional Knowledge in HI (Slides 14-23)

Ch. 4: Professional Knowledge in HI
(Slides 14-23)

1. Legal & Ethical Issues

2. Safety Issues in HI

Laws That Affect Healthcare Workers⚖️

🚨 EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act):

• Hospitals getting federal funding cannot turn away patients who need emergency care, even if they can’t pay

🏥 Hill-Burton Act:

• Hospitals must help patients who don’t speak English by providing language support

Laws That Affect Healthcare Workers⚖️

Employment Laws

• ✋ Civil Rights Act: No discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

• ♿ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Protects people with disabilities from discrimination in public life

• 👶 Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Gives eligible employees unpaid, job-protected leave for family or medical reasons

Legal Issues in Healthcare⚖️

📑 Civil Law

• About relationships between people & businesses

• Focus: rights & responsibilities

• Example: malpractice cases, contract issues

🚔 Criminal Law

• About protecting society from harmful actions

• Focus: crimes & punishments

• Example: practicing without a license, misusing narcotics

Contracts📄

• Two parties make an agreement — one promises to do something for the other

• ✅ Must be for a legal purpose

• 🚫 People who cannot legally sign contracts:

  • Minors (under 18)

  • Legally disabled (minors,
    mentally incompetent,
    not in full mental state due to
    health) cannot sign contracts

Legal Issues in Healthcare (Cont.)

⚖️ Torts

• A wrongful act that causes harm to another person, leading to legal responsibility.

🕵️ Fraud

• Lying about a product or service (example: false cure claims)

​👀 Invasion of Privacy

• Sharing private information without permission

💬 Defamation

• Damaging someone’s reputation

• 🗣️ Slander: Spoken (like gossip)

• ✍️ Libel: Written

Match

Match the following

• lAWS/Rules for relationships between people or businesses

• Defines crimes to protect people and society

• An agreement where one party promises to do something for the other

civil law

criminal law

contracts

• civil law

• criminal law

• contracts

Match

Match the following

• an harmful action sone to a person/ individual

• damaging someone's good name or reputation

• verbal defamation, such as gossip

• defamation in the form of writing

tort

defamation

slander

libel

• tort

• defamation

• slander

• libel

Ethical Issues in Healthcare

• 🧭 Based on morals and values — Beliefs about what is right and wrong that guide how people make decisions

• 👨‍👩‍👧 Morals are learned from family, friends, and life experiences

• 📜 Codes of Ethics: Formal rules for expected behavior

• 🤝 Help professionals handle difficult situations with guidance

Patient Rights

🏥 Affordable Care Act (ACA)

• Passed in 2010 to make health insurance more affordable and accessible

🔒 HIPAA & PHI

• Federal law that protects patients’ private health information

💻 HITECH Act

• Encourages better healthcare through increased use of health information technology (HIT)

Patient Rights

⚖️ Patient Self-Determination Act

📝 Advance Directives

• State a patient’s wishes when they can’t communicate

📄 Living Will

• Written instructions about which procedures (like feeding tubes or ventilators) can or cannot be used to prolong life

👥 Power of Attorney (POA)

• Appoints someone to make healthcare decisions if the patient can’t make their own choices

Multiple Choice

Morals and values are not learned from personal experiences, family members, and friends.

• true

• false

Match

Match the following

• Federal law that helps people get healthcare coverage and protects their personal health information

• Written instructions about life-support procedures like feeding tubes or ventilators

• Appoints someone/ Lets someone make healthcare decisions if the patient can’t

• 2010 law making health insurance more affordable and accessible

HIPAA and PHI

living will

Power of Attorney (POA)

Affordable Care Act (ACA)

• HIPAA and PHI

• living will

• Power of Attorney (POA)

• Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Legal & Voluntary Professional Standards

• 🏅 Certifications

  • Offered by professional associations (e.g., AHIMA)

• 📋 Registrations

  • Official record showing someone is qualified for a job

• ✅ Accreditation

  • Shows organizations or educational programs meet standards (e.g., Joint Commission)

Think Further...

Why get certified or registered?

• 🏅 Certification

  • Shows a healthcare worker’s skills and qualifications

• 📋 Registration

  • Adds the worker to an official list of qualified professionals

• 👍 Benefits

  • Employers often prefer workers who are certified or registered

• 🩺 Examples of Certifications

  • CPR, CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant), Medical Assistant, Health Information Technician

Multiple Select

Employers would prefer to hire someone that has which of the following?

• certification

• registration

• no job experience in the field

• an unaccredited certification

Safety issues in HI Services🛡️

Privacy and Confidentiality🔒

• ❌ Rule

  • Never share medical records with anyone not authorized

• ✍️ Patient Releases

  • Patients must sign to allow sharing of their information

• ⚠️ Consequences

  • Serious penalties for healthcare workers who share PHI (Protected Health Information)

How can we maintain patient confidentiality?🔐

• 📁 Restrict access to patient files

• 💻 Use encryption software

• 👀 Limit who can see computer screens

• 🔑 Require passwords for all devices

Critical Thinking🧠

What are precautions workers must take to keep electronic PHI safe?

• 🗑️ Shred or destroy confidential information

• 👀 Tilt your computer screen or use a screen cover

• 🔑 Use strong passwords (8+ characters with special symbols)

• 📱 Protect smartphones and tablets

• 🚫 Never gossip about patients or share info on social media

Safety Issues for Workers🛠️

• 🏢 Ergonomics

  • Designing the workplace to improve safety and productivity

  • ↔️ Arrange office space to reduce unnecessary movements

• 💪 Repetitive Motion Injuries (RMI)

  • Caused by overusing or poorly positioning a body part

• ⚠️ Examples of Injuries

  • Carpal tunnel, lower back pain, eyestrain from computers

• ✅ Prevention

  • Lift properly, take short breaks, stretch regularly

Multiple Choice

It is acceptable to post a picture of your workplace/patient on social media with patient information in the background

• true

• false