Lecture #1 (Legal Considerations) Flashcards
True or false: Whether or not an AT faces legal issues depends on the patient population.
True
What is malpractice? What could it entail?
Liability generating conduct associated with the adverse outcome of patient treatment; (negligent patient care, failure to obtain informed consent, breach of contract, use of defective product, or abnormally dangerous treatment)
What is a “breach of contract”?
An unexcused failure to perform the services specificied in the contract (either formal or informal)
What is omission?
Failure to do something that you’re supposed to do…so a failure to act when there is a legal duty to do so.
What is tort?
A legal wrong (other than breach of contract) for which a remedy will be provided (usually in the form of monetary damages)
True or false: The only malpractice scenario that would be considered tort is a breach of contract.
False. All cases of malpractice are considered tort EXCEPT breach of contract
What are the two types of cases included in tort law?
Criminal and civil
What is a criminal case?
These are initiated by the government and can result in jail time or other penalities
What is a civil case?
These are initiated by the plaintiff(s) and typically just end in money exchange
What are the three kinds of tort?
Intentional, negligent, and liability
What is the most common type of tort?
Negligence
What is negligence?
A type of tort in which an AT fails to act as a reasonably prudent athletic trainer would act under the circumstances (misfeasance)
What is also know as nonfeasance?
Omission
What is negligence based on?
Omission and commission
What is commission? What is it otherwise known as?
An action that violates a legal duty; malfeasance
In order to show negligence, the accuser must do what?
SUBSTANTIATE (not prove) that there was an existance of duty, a breach of duty, conduct by the AT, causation, and damage done
True or false: Even non-actions can render the AT negligent.
False…negligence requries an action by the AT or a failure in order to take action
What is duty?
This principle stems from the contract in which the AT is working under (can change from one setting to another). These are often found in the job description or in the employment contract)
What is abandonment?
The desertion of a patient-AT relationship by the AT without the patient’s consent
What is standard of care?
The legal duty to provide health care services consistent with what other HCPs of the came training, education, and credentialing would provide under the circumstances
What is causation?
Once a breach of duty has been demonstrated, the plaintiff must be able to show that the breach actually was a legal cause of the injury or worsening of the injury
What are the three types of causation?
Actual cause, proximate (legal cause), and foreseeability
What is actual cause?
The degree to which a health care practitioner’s actions are associated with the adverse outcomes of a patient’s care (for example, you burn them with US)
What is proximate (legal) cause?
The degree to which the harm caused by a health care practitioner was foreseeable (for example, you putting them back in the game when they were injured)
What is foreseeability?
The ability to project the likely outcome of an act (for example, practicing in a lightning storm)
What is the final step in establishing negligence in a case?
Determining if the plaintiff suffered damage
What is the most common form of damage a plaintiff suffers in this field?
Physical
What are the four types of damages a plaintiff can try to prove?
Physical, emotional distress, loss of consortium (loss of ability to have sex), and punitive damages
What are the four types of (state) credentialing?
Licensure (most common)
Certification (except Texas)
Registration
Exemption
What state doesn’t really have any type of credentialing?
California
How can the risk of liability be reduced?
Through state credentialing and BOC credentialing
What is the most restrictive form of credentialing? What is its purpose?
Licensure; it prohibits unlicensed persons from calling themselves ATs or to perform tasks reserved for ATs
What does certification do?
Protects the title of the practitioner and not the skills performed by them (for example, non-ATs can do AT skills but cannot call themselves an athletic trainer)
What does exemption do?
Provides a legal basis for ATs to practice by exempting them from complying with the practice acts of other professions (so we must practice within the standards of our profession and the boundaries of our training)
What is risk management?
A process designed to preent losses of all kinds for everyone associated with an organization including its directors, administrators, employees, and clients
What are the four strategies in risk management?
Avoidance, transference, retention, and reduction
What is avoidance?
Occurs when something is very risky and dire consequences are likely so the activity is avoided
What is transference?
When activities that have a high risk and low occurance (such as a big trauma) and activities that have a low risk and high occurance (such as blisters), this cost can be transferred to an insurance entity
What is retention?
Risk is viewed as the cost of doing business, in healthcare there is risk but it is not all avoidable
What is reduction?
The use of policies and procedures to try and reduce the risks (i.e. EAPs)
What are the two ways to identify potential risks?
Real-world observation and controlled experiments
What is the administration of a drug?
Providing a single dose of medication to a patient by order of a physician
What is the dispensing of a drug?
Preparing and packaging medication for subsequenct use by a patient (this is what a pharmacist does)
If you do choose to keep prescription medications, then you must do what? (x7)
- ensure none are expired
- they all need to be packaged and labeled correctly
- all reference materials must be kept nearby
- LOCKED in a cool, dry cabinet that only the MD has a key
- don’t carry any in kits
- never store any controlled substances
- comprehensive record keeping system
True or false: ATs are not allowed to carry epipens and inhalers because they are a prescription medication.
False, these are allowed to be carried because they are emergency prescriptions
What should the record keeping of medication documentation include? (x9)
- name of pt receiving medicatioin
- name of med
- quantity of med given
- method of administration (i.e. oral, topical, etc)
- compliant (reason for med)
- current meds
- any known drug allergies
- date and time of administration
- signature of person administering the med
Product liability is subject to which of the principles or legal therories?
Negligence, breach of implied warranty, and liability
What is the statutes of limitation?
Laws that fix a certain length of time beyond which legal actions cannot be initatied
What is sovereign immunity?
Used to apply to ATs employed by schools and governmental agencies but not really protected anymore
What is assumption of risk?
Attempts to claim that the injured plaintiff understood thee risk of an activity and freely chose to undertake the activity regardless of the hazards associated with it
What is comparative negligence?
Intended to demonstrate the degree to which a plainiff contributed to the harm caused by the defendant
What is a testimony?
A legally binding state offered as evidence to the facts in a legal proceeding
What is a subpoena?
The legal authority used to compel a person to provide testimony
What is a deposition?
A planned meeting in which testimony is given or reviewed
