Medical Assistant Ethics - Chapters 3 & 4

Chapters 3 & 4 - Everything

• Medical assistant ethics involve daily ethical dilemmas, balancing patient confidentiality with public safety, and judging provider performance. The law provides tools to address these issues and standards for evaluating providers, while medical assistants are obligated to follow societal rules and relevant laws.
• Legal requirements for medical assistants don't need to cover every specificity but should include basic legal knowledge. Ethical dilemmas often arise when resolving conflicts between differing moral principles.
• Understanding the difference between law and ethics is crucial. Law encompasses legal definitions, types of law (criminal vs. civil), and liability insurance. Ethics includes professional, organizational, and personal ethical considerations. Differentiating ethical and moral judgments is also necessary.
• Common law develops through court decisions and precedents, evolving over time. State law is enacted by state legislatures and addresses matters like criminal, family, and property laws, differing between states.
• Federal law is enacted by Congress and applies nationally, including issues such as immigration, bankruptcy, and civil rights. It takes precedence over conflicting state laws.
• Arbitration is a binding decision made by a neutral third party, often used in disputes. Mediation facilitates communication between disputants without making a decision. Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor falls short of normal care, skill, and procedure.
• Malpractice insurance covers errors and omissions, but not criminal acts. Employers may provide this type of coverage, or medical assistants may need to purchase it. Personal liability insurance protects against bodily injury or property damage to others. Criminal law deals with acts prohibited by law and involves statutes, defendants, and plaintiffs.
• Civil law addresses the conduct of people and entities with a lower standard of proof. Misdemeanors are punishable by less than a year, while felonies involve longer sentences. Torts, a common law branch, cover accidental and intentional actions like defamation (slander/libel). Negligence occurs when a person fails to exercise reasonable care, affecting duty, breach, causation, and damages.
• Immune system components discussed - lymph nodes, lymphocytes, spleen, thymus glands. Immune function, and antigens/antibodies discussed in relationship to the immune system.
• Standard of care—the expected level of caution and attention from a person in similar circumstances (related to medical practice). Defenses against medical malpractice include the statute of limitations.

Other Topics

• Civil law: Collection of statutes & case law about people & entities. Includes infractions (not crimes). Standard of proof (preponderance of evidence). O.J. Simpson case example.
• Misdemeanors: Less severe crimes (less than a year in jail), handled in local or municipal courts, may include probation or community service. Examples include vandalism.
• Felonies: More severe crimes (over a year in prison, possible death penalty), handled in state or federal courts. Consequences like loss of voting rights. Examples include murder.
• Torts: A branch of common law dealing with wrongs (Latin term "tortum"). Includes unintentional (car accidents) and intentional (libel/slander) torts. Includes compensatory and punitive damages for harm.