Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Ethics and Professionalism
Lecture:Ethical and legal standards
Slide content:Ethics and Professionalism Summary Lecture b Health care professionals must meet both ethical and legal standards Sometimes these standards are the same, but not always The sources of legal standards for health care professionals include state medical practices laws and malpractice law The culture of health care includes expectations that may make it difficult to disclose illegal or unethical behavior or practices 21
Slide notes:This concludes Lecture b of Ethics and Professionalism . In summary, health care professionals must meet both ethical standards and legal standards. Sometimes these are the same, but not always. Ethical standards may overlap or intersect with legal standards, and the two types of standards may even conflict. Just because something is legal does not mean its necessarily ethical. One source of legal standards for physicians is each states medical practices law. It defines the practice of medicine within the state, establishes a state medical board, administers testing and licensing of physicians, and specifies procedures for investigation, enforcement, and discipline. The state medical board writes rules and regulations to carry out the law. There are similar state boards for other professionalsnursing, pharmacy, and dentistry, to name a few. A source of legal standards for all health care professionals is each states malpractice laws. In order to bring a successful malpractice suit, the patient must prove that the health care provider had a duty to the patient, that minimum standards of care were not met, that the failure to meet the standards caused an injury, and that the injury resulted in damages. Certain values in the culture of health care, such as the belief in doctors independence, make it difficult to disclose illegal or unethical behavior. The hidden curriculum in medical schools may teach students more about ethics than formal ethics training does. In 2011, a large amount of health care fraud was reported under the federal False Claims Act, showing that unethical behavior is more common in the health care professions than people might like to think. 21