Physician Ethical Dilemmas

McCall Ethics Case Study Jerry is Dr. Williams’s office assistant. He has received professional training as both a medical assistant and an LPN. He is handling all the phone calls while the receptionist is at lunch. A patient calls and says he must have a prescription refill for Valium and that the provider, a friend, calls in the medication prior to any flights. This type of request happens often and in slightly different scenarios, but the outcome should remain the same to avoid ethical and legal issues. This paper will review the case study to help resolve the problem at hand, refilling a prescription without provider authorization. Qualified Medical Training Understanding the definitions of a licensed practical nurse, LPN, and a medical assistant, MA is the first step to making a factual conclusion for this case study. Support staff to the provider cannot make decisions about medication refills for patients without a direct order from the provider. This action is outside the scope of practice for an LPN or MA. Licensed Practical Nurse An LPN is a role in support of the nurse or RN, a registered Nurse usually in a skilled nursing setting such as a hospital or long-term care facility. As defined by the National Federation of Licensed Practical Nurses, NFLPN, an LPN “means the performance for compensation of authorized acts of nursing which utilize specialized knowledge and skills and which meet the health needs of people in a variety of settings under the direction

A medical office administrative assistance must know the importance of proper medical documentation,the legal aspects of documentation and the various medical laws, regulations, and acts; understand language and other communication barriers, proper billing and reimbursement procedures, workplace conflict and diversity; and know how to properly maintain patient ledger cards. Accurate medical documentation ensures the patient receives the proper treatment and aides in validating medical necessity. This documentation is not only critical to the patient but the facility as well because it ensures proper codes are assigned, clean claims are submitted, and allows the reimbursement process runs smoothly. Medical office administrative assistants must understand the imporatance in protecting patient privacy because they have an ethical and legal

Responsible coder collects post and manages account payments, submitting claims and keeping in touch with insurance companies. If patient information is coded incorrectly, or incomplete it could leave an impact that can be brought to a claim. Inaccuracy in patient information can lead to denials, none payment and investigation. It is important to get all the details right by verifying insurance coverage properly. Make sure that the patient’s name is spelled correctly, date of birth and sex of the patient are correct; and most important be sure that the policy number is valid.0verall before claims are sent, documentation should be in order and the claim should be checked for completeness and accuracy.

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When it comes to the Guatemalan syphilis experiment and the Tuskegee experiment both were two unique experiments. Recently, the United States apologized last year for the experiment, done in Tuskegee which was meant to test the drug penicillin. However, Two years before that, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made an apology for the experiment conducted in Guatemala. With that said, the researcher rejects the case that a utilitarian could make the case that the Guatemalan syphilis study was more ethically defensible than the Tuskegee study, because the Guatemalan study had greater potential to lead to useful medical knowledge that could save many lives, while the Tuskegee study did not have any such potential (Bonnie Steinbock, 2005). I believe that neither experiment was for medical knowledge or served and medicinal purpose and that

The coordinated care of the patient involves organizing a Child Family and Team (CFT) meeting to facilitate the appropriate delivery of behavioral and healthcare services that meet the needs of the family. During the CFT, the patient, patient’s legal guardians, behavioral health providers, and medical team effectively communicate the appropriate delivery of healthcare and behavioral services. Updates about medical and/or behavioral concerns are faxed to the patient’s primary care physicians. In addition, case managers, clinical care managers, or family support partners make an attempt to accompany the family to the next schedule PCP appointment. This process facilitates both

When doctors see patients 50/50 chance they aren’t seeing their family members . There is many reasons why the doctors don’t treat their family . There are states that have laws for doctors saying that the use of medical attention to a family member . The question is if this is an ethical decision or not ? Should doctors be able to perform on people in their family or they shouldn’t ?

doctors. When a physician cannot come to a definite right, or ethical, conclusion, he or she may

During a patient visit, all that is done for the patient must be transcribed into the correct codes. Along with these codes, there must be sufficient supporting information documented in the patient record. When the supporting evidence is not there, that line will either be down-coded or the billing being rejected. A rejected bill requires more time and effort by the physician’s staff to correct the issue and resubmit it. Billing with the correct primary, sub and supporting codes will prevent the extra work and possible loss of money. This is not just an ethical and financial need to do so, but a legal responsibility. In many cases, the coder is held responsible for incorrect or erroneous billing.

Responsible coder collects post and manages account payments, submitting claims and keeping in touch with insurance companies. If patient information is coded incorrectly or incomplete it could leave an impact that can be brought to a claim. Inaccuracy in patient information can leads to denials, none payment and investigation. It is important to get all the details right by verifying insurance coverage properly. Make sure that the patient’s name is spelled correctly, date of birth and sex of patient are correct; and most important be sure that the policy number is valid.0verall before claims are sent, documentation should be in order and the claim should be checked for completeness and accuracy.

The patient-physician relationship is either contractual (where the physician mutually agrees to provide medical services to the patient) or consensual (where patient seeks the Physician and the Physician accepts the patient with knowledge and consent). This relationship continues irrespective of who pay’s to the patient care, so, all patients are equally treated regardless of their economic status (Steiner, 2013). The principal need of a dedicated doctor is to consider the wellbeing and prosperity of the patient. In a doctor-patient alliance, there is impressive therapeutic power that enhances the quality and health condition of a patient where doctors help clear their doubt, fear, and confusion of illness therby, being a valued blessing in human lives (Raina, 2014).

Many professions such as physicians, nurses, and lawyers establish and adopt a code of ethics. A code of ethics is general rules and principles set to establish trust with the public and other professionals. Trust that their profession has a core set of values that will be used in decision making, behavior, and protects people from devious acts that someone can benefit from. A code of ethics creates a high standard to protect the profession itself from compromising individuals and it also allows the profession to have an evaluation benchmark when needed. “Following a professional code of ethics can produce many benefits for the individual, the profession, and society as a whole” (Reynolds 54). The physician code of ethics is one of the most

AIDS is potentially the most viral disease globally. Millions of individuals retrieve this virus every year, unaware of the effects that could possibly lead to mortality. Consequently, developing countries cannot afford these expensive vaccines to reduce the production of AIDS, resulting in an increase in death rates. There is still a shortage of experts in the field of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), for doctors are still hesitant in treating infected patients. Fauci (2003) argues that HIV replicates in the lymphoid tissue of all infected individuals. He states that if we attack this virus ahead of time, more individuals would have a lower chance of mortality. The ethical issues discussed in this paper affect the relationship between doctor-to-patient

Healthcare professionals will be faced with ethical dilemmas throughout their career, particularly in the hospital environment. Having an education regarding professional healthcare ethics will provide some direction in how to best address these dilemmas at a time when either the patient or their family is in need of making decisions for themselves or their family member. It can be difficult for healthcare professionals to weigh professional protocol against their own personal beliefs and ethical understandings when determining critical care for their patient.

A doctor chose to tell her patient, Sarah who was suffering from multiple myeloma part of the information that he thought was welcoming to the patient. The doctor told the patient that 50% of the patients treated of this illness can survive while the other 50% die within 2 or 3years of ailment. However, he did not disclose to Sarah that 10% percent of the survivors are likely to be exposed to leukemia in the next 20 years, a condition that is resistant to treatment. The doctor has fears that he might alarm her chances for taking treatment and hence limit her chances for future survival. Even though the research is not conclusive on the possibilities of attracting leukemia after 20 years, he thinks it is not morally right to disclose the risks to the patients. Therefore, the doctor is faced with ethical issues of autonomy, honesty, disclosure, good virtue, integrity, moral responsibility and practical wisdom. This is the ethical case that I will discuss and analyze in this essay.