Ch. 6 Professional Liability and Medical Malpractice Flashcards
1
Q
Professional Negligence and Medical Malpractice
A
- Professional misconduct or demonstration of an unreasonable lack of skill with the result of injury, loss, or damage to the patient
2
Q
Negligence
A
- Unintentional action that occurs when a person performs or fails to perform an action that a reasonable person would or would not have committed in a similar situation
3
Q
Feasance:
A
Performing an act or duty
4
Q
Malfeasance
A
- Performing a wrong or illegal act
5
Q
Misfeasance
A
- Improperly performing on otherwise proper or lawful act
6
Q
Nonfeasance
A
- Failure to perform a necessary action
7
Q
Four D’s of Negligence
A
- Duty
- Responsibility established by physician-patient relationship - Dereliction
- Neglect of duty - Direct to proximate cause
- Continuous sequence of events, unbroken by an intervening cause, that produced injury and without which injury would not have occurred - Damages
- Injuries caused by the defendant
8
Q
Duty
A
- Responsibility established by physician-patient relationship
9
Q
Dereliction
A
- Neglect of duty
10
Q
Direct to proximate cause
A
- Continuous sequence of events, unbroken by an intervening cause, that produced injury and without which injury would not have occurred
11
Q
Damages
A
- Injuries caused by the defendant
12
Q
Preponderance of Evidence
A
- One side must demonstrate a greater weight of evidence than the other side
13
Q
Res Ipsa Loquitur
A
- Means “The thing speaks for itself”
- Three conditions must be present
- (1) Injury could not have occurred without negligent act
- (2) Defendant had direct control over cause of injury
- (3) Patient did not and could not contribute to the injury
14
Q
Compensatory damages
A
- Court-awarded payment to make up for loss of income or emotional pain and suffering
15
Q
Punitive damages
A
- Exemplary damages
- Monetary awarded by court to person harmed in malicious and willful way; meant to punish offender
16
Q
Nominal damages
A
- Slight or token payment awarded by court
17
Q
Fraud
A
- The deliberate misrepresentation or concealment of facts from another person for unlawful or unfair gain
- One of the fastest-growing crimes in health care
- Medical assistants have been involved in several fraud cases in the medical office; none have been charges so far
18
Q
Office of Inspector General (OIG)
A
- Protects federal programs from fraudulent activities
- Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- Medicare;Medicaid - Violation of statures
- Immunity for charitable organizations
19
Q
Affirmative defense
A
- Denial, assumption of risk, contributory negligence, comparative negligence, borrowed servant, statute of limitations, and res judicata
- Allows defendant to present evidence that patient’s condition was the result of factors other than negligence
20
Q
Denial defense
A
- Plaintiff must prove defendant did wrongful or negligent act
- Most common defense
- Jury must determine if defendant caused injury
- May bring in expert witness
21
Q
Assumption of risk
A
- Prevents plaintiff from recovering damages if plaintiff voluntarily accepts a risk associated with the activity
- Plaintiff must know and understand risk involved, and choice to accept risk must be voluntary
- Should have signature to document that patient authorizes procedure, understands the risks, and consents to treatment
22
Q
Contributory Negligence
A
- Conduct on part of plaintiff that contributes to cause of injuries
- Complete bar to recovery of damages
- Means plaintiff will receive no monetary damages
23
Q
Comparative Negligence
A
- Similar to contributory negligence
- Plaintiff’s own negligence helped cause injury
- Not complete bar to recovery of damages
- Allows plaintiff to recover damaged bases on the amount of defendant’s fault
24
Q
Borrowed Servants
A
- Special application of respondent superior
- Employer lends an employee to someone else
- Employee remains “servant” of employer, but employer is no liable for any negligence caused by employee while in service of temporary employer
25
Q
Ignorance of Facts and Unintentional Wrongs
A
- Health care professional should understand what is right and wrong under law
- Arguing that a negligent act is unintentional is not a defense
26
Q
Statutes of Limitations
A
- Set time period for injured party to file lawsuit
- Exception is rule of discovery
- Statute of limitations does not begin to “run” until injury is discovered
- Will not begin to “run” if fraud (deliberate concealment of facts from patient) is involved
27
Q
Res Judicata
A
- Means “the thing has been decided” or “a matter decided by judgement”
- Once the court decided a case, plaintiff cannot bring new lawsuit on same subject
28
Q
Civil liability cases
A
- Physician may be sued under a variety of legal theories
29
Q
Physical condition of the premises
A
- Institution may be liable when regulatory standards have been violated
30
Q
Professional Liability
A
Employer may not have done anything wrong, yet still be liable
31
Q
Claims-made insurance
A
- Covers insured party for claims made only during the time period policy was in effect
32
Q
Occurrence insurance
A
- Covers the insured party for all injuries and incidents that occurred while policy was in effect regardless of when claim is made
33
Q
Malpractice Insurance
A
- Covers any damages the physician/employer must pay if he or she is sued for malpractice and loses
- All licensed and certified medical professionals should carry malpractice insurance
- An expensive type of insurance- Defensive medicine
34
Q
Arbitration
A
- Settling dispute without judge; decision is binding
35
Q
Mediation
A
- Opinion of third party for non-binding decision
36
Q
Med-arb
A
- Combination of the two
- Arbitration
- Settling dispute without judge; decision is binding
- Mediation
- Opinion of third party for non-binding decision
37
Q
Liability of Other Health Professionals
A
- Dental assistant
- Laboratory technician
- Medical assistant
- Nurse
- Nursing assistant
- Paramedic
- Pharmacist
- Physical therapist
- Physician assistant
- Respiratory therapist
38
Q
Tort Reform
A
- Malpractice reform
- 32 States have passed reforms
- Some limit plaintiff’s ability to sue
- Some cap awarded damages - Difficult to place a dollar amount on a person’s pain and suffering
39
Q
Malpractice Prevention
A
- General guidelines
- Safety
- Communication
- Documentation
