Medical Law and Ethics Ch 6

A physician who owns a medical practice decides his malpractice insurance is too expensive and drops the policy. Which of the following aspects of this physician's practice will impact the physician the most?

Having hospital privileges

res judicata

"The thing has been decided." A claim cannot be retried between the same parties if it has already been legally resolved.

In order to use the emergency defense, which element must be present?

1- A true emergency situations existed and was not caused by the defendant 2-The appropriate standard of care was met

assumption of risk

A legal defense that holds that the defendant is not guilty of a negligent act because the plaintiff knew of and accepted beforehand any risks involved

A physician joins a group practice and is applying at the local hospital for admission privileges, also known as credentialing. Which of the following is the final step in verifying the physician's credentials?

A peer review committee completes the process.

Which of the following is NOT one of the actions that may potentially prevent litigation?

A private hospital room

Release of tortfeasor

A technical defense that prohibits a lawsuit against the person who caused an injury (the tortfeasor) if he or she was expressly released from further liability in the settlement of a suit

emergency

A type of affirmative defense in which the person who comes to the aid of a victim in an emergency is not held liable under certain circumstances

Occurrence Insurance

A type of liability insurance that covers the insured for any claims arising from an incident that occurred, or is alleged to have occurred, during the time the policy is in force, regardless of when the claim is made.

Comparative Negligence

An affirmative defense claimed by the defendant, alleging that the plaintiff contributed to the injury by a certain degree.

Contributory Negligence

An affirmative defense that alleges that the plaintiff, through a lack of care, caused or contributed to his or her own injury

Tail Coverage

An insurance coverage option available for health care practitioners: when a claims-made policy is discontinued, it extends coverage for malpractice claims alleged to have occurred during those dates that claims-made coverage was in effect.

self-insurance coverage

An insurance coverage option whereby insured subscribers contribute to a trust fund to be used in paying potential damage awards.

A legal defense that holds that the defendant is not guilty of a negligent act because the plaintiff knew of and accepted beforehand any risks involved is called

Assumption of Risk

Which of the following is a good approach to reducing the risk of litigation for the health care worker?

Check several times

The employer physician puts a plan in place to ensure that all government regulations are enforced in the practice. This is referred to as a _________ plan.

Compliance

liability insurance

Contract coverage for potential damages incurred as a result of a negligent act

Technical Defenses

Defenses used in a lawsuit that are based upon legal technicalities.

If a mistake is made in patient care and the health care provider is honest with the patient about the error, the patient is:

Less likely to file a suit

What would be the best advice for a nurse caring for patients who have complained about their treating physician

Listen carefully and see that the comments reach the physician.

If you had made the same mistake that this laboratory tech did, what would be the first appropriate course of action?

Notify your supervisor

Which of the following is an example of a physician using risk management to reduce the likelihood of a malpractice lawsuit against his office?

Providing written job descriptions for employees.

A patient sues his physician for negligence after a failed eye surgery, but loses the case. During the trial, the patient discovers that the physician never obtained informed consent for the surgery. The patient cannot sue again based on the doctrine of:

Res judicata

What are the two factors that would influence the cost of premiums for a malpractice insurance policy?

The dollar amount covered by the insurance policy and the physician's specialty.

When a physician has malpractice insurance, who should they contact first when faced with a malpractice lawsuit?

The insurance company

Using the process of comparative negligence, a judge determines that the patient contributed 35% to the injury and the physician contributed 65%. Which of the following is the outcome of the case?

The patient's damage award would be reduced by 35%.

A medical malpractice lawsuit has been decided under the doctrine of res judicata. What does this Latin term mean?

The thing has been decided.

denial

a defence that claims innocence of the charges or that one or more of the four Ds of negligence

prior acts insurance coverage

a supplement to a claims-made insurance policy that can be purchased from a new carrier when health care practitioners change carriers

Claims-made insurance

a type of liability insurance that covers the insured only for those claims made (not for any injury occurring) while the policy is in force

Which of the following is NOT one of the components of competence?

all of the above

A health care practitioner who practices the "four Cs of medical malpractice prevention" finds two important benefits related to one of the "Cs"—that is, improvement in patients' medical conditions and the decreased likelihood that they will sue. Which "C" is most likely to provide these benefits?

caring

Which of the following is NOT one of the 4 Cs of medical malpractice prevention?

certification

For legal purposes, the healthcare professional should know that if it isn't in writing and explained completely and accurately, it wasn't done. To which of the following "4 Cs of medical malpractice prevention" does this statement refer?

charting

When the defense claims that the patient's actions caused or contributed to the injury, this is called a(n)

contributory negligence defense.

Affirmative defenses

defenses used by defendants in medical professional liability suits that allow the accused to present factual evidence that the patient's condition was caused by some factor other than the defendant's negligence

A physician assistant (PA) accused of medical malpractice claims that the charge does not meet all of the elements of the theory of recovery. Which of the following defenses is being used by the PA

denial

The statute of limitations is

different depending on the state

The health care practitioner who comes to the aid of an accident victim at the scene may not be held liable under which type of defense?

emergency

Technical defenses are based on:

legal technicalities

Enterprise risk management

looks at total value of organization.

Medical malpractice insurance that covers the insured only for any claims arising from an incident that occurred, or is alleged to have occurred, during the time the policy was in force, regardless of when the claim is made is called

occurrence coverage.

Methods used to manage risk are considered a part of which of the following?

quality assurance

A patient sues a physician for negligence and loses. The patient then sues the physician for breach of contract. The second suit is dismissed under what doctrine

res judicata

One of the most common occurrences for marking the beginning of the statutory period for medical malpractice includes

the day the alleged negligent act was committed.

To improve the quality of communication, you should listen actively, communicate clearly, AND confirm with the patient that you have been _______________.

understood