Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare

Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare

One cannot establish a healthcare facility without considering the legal and ethical aspects required to function well and provide appropriate healthcare needs.

Licensure, Certification, and Accreditation in Healthcare

 Three terms that are always confusing in Healthcare Facility management are licensure, certification, and accreditation. To fully understand the importance of addressing legal or ethical issues in Healthcare, one should know the definition of these terms. Licensure is a formal recognition by a regulation agency that someone is skilled in a very talent to practice it in an area, typically a state. This is a method by which a governmental agency grants time-limited permission to an individual to engage in a given occupation after verifying that they have met predetermined and standardized criteria (usually education, experience, and examination). Licensure pertains to the individual staff— a nurse, a doctor, a radiologist, or a healthcare engineer, which involves how competent a person is in addressing health problems and concerns. A legal healthcare facility has licensed staff to bring quality performance and jobs to people in need because, technically, they have already passed the standards needed to serve in the profession they specialize in.

On the other hand, certifications are credentials that individuals seek to prove their proficiency in certain specialties or procedures. This process establishes the qualifications of professionals, structure members, or organizations and assesses their background and legitimacy to meet predetermined and standardized criteria. Individuals, organizations, processes, services, or products may be credentialed.

In some cases where licensed individuals are absent (whether a standardized licensure exam for that profession doesn’t exist), certification from accredited bodies can be one special document that proves the competency of the staff needed in a specific job. Lastly, accreditations are recognitions from non-governmental third-party agencies that someone has met predetermined standards. To become certified, an individual should meet eligibility requirements and pass an assessment. Certification is voluntary, and the individual should not be approved to interact in a given occupation. Certification has historically been an association activity in which a group of professionals determines the necessity to publicly state its standards by assessing competency, quality, or specialized knowledge. The certification assessment might cowl a broad space of data and skills at entry, specialty, or advanced levels. Certificates usually have ongoing requirements, such as continuing education or retesting, to maintain the certification. Examples of certification programs are those offered by AAHID, ACHA, American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), EDAC, and GBCI (LEED). These are expressed in levels, and the higher level passed (depending on the accrediting body), the higher quality that healthcare facility offers.

Ethical Standards and Legal Requirements in Establishing Healthcare Facilities

 Healthcare follows certain ethical standards in dealing with patients. The core of medical ethics principles are founded on autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Autonomy pertains to respecting patients as individuals (e.g., respecting their privacy by maintaining confidentiality and being truthful about their medical care). One should provide the information and opportunity for patients to make their own decisions regarding their care (e.g., informed consent) and honor and respect patients’ decisions regarding their choice to accept or decline care. In addition to having the right to refuse a diagnostic or therapeutic intervention, patients also have the right to refuse to receive information. Beneficence is to act in the patient’s best interest and advocate for the patient. Nonmaleficence is concerned with avoiding causing injury or suffering to patients, and lastly, justice in Healthcare means to treat patients fairly and equitably. Aside from these core principles, healthcare stand by the rule of obligation to treat. A physician is responsible for treating patients during a medical emergency where failing to supply treatment would endanger the patient’s life. According to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), any hospital with an emergency department is required to screen for emergency medical conditions if requested and, if such a condition exists, provide treatment until that condition is stabilized. Another consideration is the freedom to treat. Freedom to treat describes a legal legitimization in which each person (independent of educational level) can perform medical treatments. Since the Freedom to Treat Act was abolished in 1939, only physicians and certain authorized persons (e.g., natural health professionals) can treat patients. About these ethical standards, the 2005 Florida Code – PUBLIC HEALTH HOSPITAL LICENSING AND REGULATION Chapter 395 provided legislation on the legal requirements for healthcare facilities. In its legislative intent, it says, “The Legislature intends to provide for the protection of public health and safety in the establishment, construction, maintenance, and operation of hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and mobile surgical facilities by providing for licensure of same and the development, establishment, and enforcement of minimum standards concerning it.”

Accrediting Body for Clinic Healthcare Facility

 In the Healthcare industry, accreditation is important to set standards, stand by the standard, and prove that healthcare facilities abide by the law and follow ethical and legal standards in addressing patients’ needs. Here are some accrediting bodies considered high standards when it comes to Healthcare. They have different specialties and areas of designation. Thus, one accrediting body isn’t enough to prove that one healthcare facility is within the best quality and standards.

International Facility Management Association (IFMA)

 IFMA offers several credentials, including a Facility Management Professional (FMP) designation, a knowledge-based certification that will help accelerate a facility manager’s transition into the profession. The Sustainability Facility Professional (SFP) is an assessment-based certificate program delivering a specialty credential in sustainability. The Certified Facility Manager (CFM) credential sets the industry standard for guaranteeing the information and talents of active facility managers. The CFM examination is competency-based, testing what a person can do compared to standards that define the practice of facility management.

American Society of Healthcare Engineers

 To develop leaders who work in unison to optimize the physical healthcare surroundings, ASHE offers two professional certifications: Certified Healthcare Constructor (CHC) and Certified Healthcare Facility Manager (CHFM). The CHC and CHFM designations benefit those who achieve them and the entire healthcare industry. Eligibility necessities for each individual are a mix of education and experience.

Evidence-based Design Accreditation and Certification

 The EDAC program, managed by The Center for Health Design, educates and assesses individuals on their understanding of an evidence-based design (EBD) process. The program’s goal isn’t to evaluate individuals concerning their knowledge of current proof but to teach a process to identify and use available and credible research to inform the style and how to develop goals and hypotheses, gather information, and measure results to share with the field.

Planning to establish a healthcare facility is not easy to do. Considerations should always be given appropriate time to discuss and reflect. Aside from these things mentioned in this paper, there is much more to consider before entering the healthcare industry. It is not just dealing with some product; we deal with life and death, health and sickness in this industry.

References

 Justia US Law. 2005 Florida Code – PUBLIC HEALTH HOSPITAL LICENSING AND

REGULATIONChapter 395. Retrieved from https://law.justia.com/codes/florida/2005/TitleXXIX/ch0395.html

Silvis, J. (2011). Accreditation, Certification, Licensure, Registration. Healthcare Design.

Retrieved from https://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/architecture/accreditation-certification-licensure-registration/

Amboss (n.d.). Principles of medical law and ethics. Retrieved from https://www.amboss.com/us/knowledge/Principles_of_medical_law_and_ethics

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Building on your Weeks 1 through 3, you must now identify and discuss some of the legal and ethical considerations that must be considered in constructing your proposed healthcare facility. You are required to include the following:

Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare

• Define and discuss the differences between licensure, certification, and accreditation in healthcare facilities.
• Discuss a healthcare organization’s ethical or legal requirements and responsibilities in ensuring its facility is licensed, certified, and accredited. When discussing licensure requirements, ensure that you research needs based on the state in which you reside.
• Define and discuss the differences between licensure and certification for healthcare providers or professionals.
• Discuss a healthcare organization’s ethical or legal requirements and responsibilities in ensuring its staff members are licensed and certified.
• Research and discuss an accrediting body that will provide accreditation to your proposed facility. Ensure you give a history of the organization, what facilities they accredit, and how the organization has impacted health care quality in the United States.