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Healthcare institutions are responsible for the quality of care

Healthcare institutions are responsible for the quality of care that is provided within their settings. Institutions need to ensure that the healthcare professionals they employ have a strong working knowledge of ethics and law to be competent and successful. A qualified professional knows how to provide safe, quality healthcare to a population of culturally diverse consumers. To address the needs of all patients, institutions can adopt models such as shared decision making, where patients are encouraged to share their preferences and needs with providers. On a daily basis, healthcare institutions must ensure that ethical dilemmas involving patients and providers are addressed.

Under certain circumstances, healthcare institutions and the professionals employed by the institutions can be sued by patients for negligence or malpractice.

For the Final Project of this course, you will analyze a court decision in which a hospital was found vicariously liable on a theory of apparent authority for professional malpractice in the form of negligence of an independent contractor. You will focus on facts pertaining to the medical standard of care, breach of care, and causation, and explain how they were applied to law. You will then use the facts of the case to identify an ethics issue and determine an ethical theory that would help provide a safe, quality healthcare experience for the patient. Next, you will apply a clinician–patient shared decision-making model to describe how the ethics issue could be resolved. You will also include a discussion about possible violations of the code of ethics in your given field. Lastly, you will augment or vary the facts of the case to create a hypothetical scenario that changes the outcome so that the hospital is no longer vicariously liable for professional malpractice in the form of negligence of an independent contractor.

Prompt
In this project, you will analyze a court case involving medical malpractice in the form of negligence. Using your analysis of the case, you will address the facts pertaining to the medical standard of care, breach of care, and causation. Further, you will use the facts from the original case to identify an ethics issue, determine an ethical theory that would help provide a safe and quality healthcare experience for the patient, apply a clinician–patient shared decision-making model, and augment or vary the facts of the case to change the outcome.

You will analyze the following case for your Final Project:

Popovich v. Allina Health System
Specifically, your case study must address the following critical elements:

Recommendations: In this section, you will utilize the knowledge you gained from your malpractice and ethical analyses to recommend and defend strategies that would help improve medical practices and avoid future liability.
Recommend preventative strategies the healthcare provider could implement to avoid liability in the future.
Defend how your recommended preventative strategies would assist the healthcare provider in avoiding liability and provide a safe, quality healthcare experience for the patient.

Sample Answer

I can help you with this project. To begin, you will need to research the specifics of the Popovich v. Allina Health System case to understand the legal and ethical issues involved. Once you've analyzed the case, you will use that information to address the critical elements of your project, including the final section on recommendations.

Since this is an academic assignment, I'll provide a framework for the recommendations section based on the prompt's requirements. Your research into the specific facts of the Popovich v. Allina Health System case will be crucial for filling out this framework with specific, well-defended strategies.

ecommended Preventative Strategies

Enhance Credentialing and Vetting of Independent Contractors:

Strategy: The hospital should implement a more rigorous and continuous credentialing process for all independent contractors, including physicians. This would involve not only verifying their licenses and certifications but also conducting thorough background checks, reviewing their malpractice history, and evaluating their professional conduct. Regular, mandatory re-credentialing should be a standard practice.

Defense: This strategy directly addresses the issue of apparent authority. By taking a more active role in vetting and monitoring independent contractors, the hospital demonstrates that it is not simply allowing them to practice in its facilities but is actively ensuring their competence and professionalism. This reduces the legal argument that the hospital negligently allowed a subpar practitioner to treat a patient. It directly ties to the medical standard of care, as the hospital is upholding its responsibility to ensure that all providers, regardless of their employment status, meet a high standard of competence.

Improve Patient-Provider Communication and Informed Consent:

Strategy: Implement a robust, standardized process for clinician-patient shared decision-making. This includes using clear, non-technical language to explain medical conditions, treatment options, risks, and benefits. The process should be documented thoroughly in the patient's medical record, including patient questions and the provider's answers. Patients should be encouraged to ask questions and take an active role in their care decisions.

Defense: This strategy helps to directly mitigate the risk of litigation related to breach of care and causation. When a patient is fully informed and participates in the decision-making process, it becomes more difficult to argue that a negative outcome was due to a lack of care or communication. The thorough documentation provides a clear record of the shared decision-making process, protecting the provider and the institution from claims of negligence. This also promotes a safe, quality healthcare experience by empowering the patient and ensuring their preferences are at the center of their care.