Law and Health Care System Administration

Introduction

The provision of health care services is an important aspect of human life compared to all other needs. This explains why healthcare bills usually arouse debates and confrontations among law makers. Nations and individuals have placed a lot of resources on research to ensure they develop effective ways of improving human life. In addition, there are various health laws that ensure physicians, patients and the public play their roles in promoting a healthy nation. Those that violate these provisions are punished and measures put in place to ensure people understand the consequences of their actions. This discussion outlines various legal issues and their application in health care system administration.

Definition

Law refers to all regulations put in place to guide people towards achieving their objectives and it ensures that those that do not follow the guidelines provided are punished (Wendy 2011). Heath care system administration refers to all activities that ensure a health facility is managed properly and all operations are conducted without difficulties. The following are some of the issues that are guided by legal provisions.

The Importance of the Physician-Patient and Hospital-Patient Relationships

There must be a healthy relationship between physicians and patients and hospital and patients to ensure health services are provided without subjectivity. Physician-patient relationships must be managed properly to ensure they do not go beyond the professional boundaries stipulated by medical codes of conduct. First, these two parties must be free and interact without fear to ensure they understand each other well. Patients must be transparent and inform their doctors about their conditions.

It is very difficult for a doctor to diagnose or treat a patient if the person does not speak the truth. This means that patients must tell doctors the truth about their health conditions so that they can be assisted properly. On the other hand, doctors must also tell their patients the truth about their conditions (Showalter 2012). They should inform them about any issues they are supposed to know to ensure they are not kept in the dark. Patients have a right to be told about what they are suffering from, how they will be treated and the duration of the whole process. In addition, they are supposed to be told the financial status of the treatment process to ensure they are prepared to manage it. Physicians are supposed to ensure that they do not disclose this information to people who are not directly concerned with the patient.

In addition, there must be a good relationship between hospitals and patients to ensure the objectives of the hospital are achieved. Even though, a hospital has different departments they all have one objective of promoting a healthy community (Rote 2011). Therefore, patients must follow the prescriptions given by doctors regarding treatment to ensure they comply with the rules of these institutions. In addition, they can help health facilities to develop patient-based approaches to manage the challenges affecting the provision of good medical services.

Lastly, physicians and patients must be in good terms to ensure they trust each other. This will develop confidence in each other to ensure that the patient participates in all processes of treatment with full cooperation. In addition, patients will trust the hospital and expect it to offer good services. These relationships are important in ensuring healthcare is provided top the people without doubts.

Contract Principle and Breach of Warranty

This principle occurs in two ways that have various differences and similarities depending on how they re executed by the patient or physician. First, it is necessary to understand that all patients and physicians have verbal and written contracts some of which may not be obviously stated. However, the main idea behind the verbal contract is that physicians assure patients that what they are going to get from the health facilities will alleviate their conditions.

Therefore, they (patients) develop trust and hope that they will get well if they follow the instructions given by the physician. However, sometimes this does not always become true due to some reasons. Usually, if the reason arises from the physician it is a breach of contract since the individual had assured the patient that the problem will be managed (Leeboy 2009). On the other hand, patients can also breach a contract when they fail to do one or all of the following actions. First, they are supposed to follow all the prescriptions given by the physician until when they have ended. Most patients fail to take full doses after feeling well in the initial stages of medication and this makes the disease to reoccur.

Secondly, patients must make sure they attend all clinics to ensure their conditions are monitored by physicians. Failure to do this leads to breach of contract. On the other hand, a physician can make sketches to represent the procedures that will be used to treat the patient. This creates a mental picture of how the process will be managed and should this not turn out the way it was expected it leads to breach of contract. However, physicians have always been very careful not to give their patients such perceptions since they mat be misinterpreted.

Elements of Proof Necessary for a Plaintiff to Prove Negligence

All professions are guided by duties and codes that regulate their activities. Workers are supposed to follow their policies to ensure there are no conflicts between them and their clients. Sometimes physicians make mistakes when executing their mandate to patients and this leads to serious consequences that may require legal actions. However, a plaintiff must prove the following elements of negligence before a legal action is taken against a physician.

First, there must be a duty that the physician was bound to fulfill in ensuring the life of the patient is safeguarded. This means that the physician must perform his role to ensure that the life of a patient is not put at risk. Secondly, the duty must be breached to warrant the plaintiff to seek compensations. This means that there must be issues that affected the provision of that duty. In addition, there must be a cause of the breach since there cannot be complain without anything happening to the patient. Lastly, the patient must suffer loss or injury to give the contract the legitimacy to claim compensation.

Function and Responsibilities of the Governing Board of a Health Care Facility

The governing body of a hospital forms partnership with the medical staff to ensure duties is performed well. In addition they help physicians and nurses in ensuring that the objectives of a healthcare facility are achieved. They do this by ensuring they respect and accommodate the needs of patients into the facility values to ensure there is efficiency and quality management of healthcare services (Wolper 2010). They also participate in financial and resource planning to accommodate the needs of patients, physicians and health facilities. Lastly, they are actively involved in evaluating quality management and improvement tools that are necessary for improving performance in these facilities.

Conclusion

There must be good relationships between patients and physician and patients and healthcare facilities to ensure that these parties trust one another in the provision off quality services. They should respect and abide by the terms that bind them and ensure there are no conflicts during service delivery however, if there are conflicts the patient must have sufficient evidence to prove that physicians played significant roles in breaching the contract. The role of governing bodies in hospitals cannot be overlooked since they ensure a health facility achieves its objectives through improved performance.

References

Leeboy, W. (2009). The Language of Caring Guide for Physicians: Communication Essentials for Patient-Centered Care. New York: Wiley.

Rote, D. (2011). Doctors Talking with Patients/Patients Talking with Doctors: Improving Communication in Medical Visits. Connecticut: Preager.

Showalter, J. S. (2012). The Law of Healthcare Administration. Chicago: Health Administration Press.

Wendy, L. (2011). Customer Service for Professionals in Health Care: Key Behaviors That Enhance the Patient and Family Experience. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Wolper, L. (2010). Health Care Administration: Managing Organized Delivery Systems. Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett.