Patient Rights and Responsibilities
Every insurance policy contains various conditions. Failure to adhere to these conditions may result in forfeiture of coverage and all benefits payable from it. Some of the conditions contained in insurance policies include notice of the occurrence, notice of claim, assignments, subrogation, changes, cancellations, and assistance of the insured.
There are three primary categories of risk, namely damage or loss of property, injury to the insured, and legal liability of the insured. Property damage is the possibility that property, which is covered by the policy may be destroyed by human or natural catastrophes. Personal risk refers to the possible injury to an insured person, and legal liability refers to the possibility of an insured person being liable for an offense.
Health professionals should be self-insured, particularly when they volunteer their services at clinics or programs not under the administration of their employer. They also insure while working as independent contractors during home visits, when working for independent agencies, and when working for organizations that have a policy that exempts claims of malpractice (Pozgar, 2012).
A health professional is covered for any act of malpractice in the event a lawsuit is brought against them. Insurance policies also cover students during internship or professional training. Nurses on private duty may also seek to obtain their coverage. However, insurance policies do not provide coverage for acts of sexual abuse that may result in the course of their duties. Additionally, insurance policies do not cover international torts because it is against public policy.
Labor Relations
If the hospital administration prevents a health professional from active membership in a trade union, this may be considered as a violation of the stipulations of the NLRA. The hospital management is obligated by the stipulations of the NLRA to bargain for terms of service with the trade unions in good faith. A contravention of this stipulation would be considered a violation.
The purpose of OSHA is to establish and disseminate occupational safety and health regulations that should be adhered to within working environments. It establishes and propagates regulations, performs evaluations and inspections to ascertain the degree of compliance. It also provides citations and issue penalties for lack of compliance. Usually, no advance notice is provided before the investigations.
The EPA is applicable in all situations that the minimum wage regulations can be applied. The EEOC is charged with the responsibility of enforcing this regulation. The purpose of the EPA is to ensure that employees who perform the same task or job should be remunerated equally irrespective of their gender differences. Wages may be unequally provided that they are not founded based on gender (Pozgar, 2012).
Labor unions have the right to mobilize members and engage the employer in collective bargaining, distribute and source for information during working breaks, and picket. The management, on the other hand, has the right to a notice before a strike of not less than 10 days, the source for replacement employees in case of a strike, and primarily prohibits union activities to designated sites within the health facility.
Sexual harassment can be described as aggressive behavior or bullying that is sexual. It also involves the offering of gifts or promotions in return for sexual pleasures. The employee has to ascertain that the employer did not have an anti-harassment policy and that the employer did not make an effort to address the issue (Pozgar, 2012).
Employment at Will and Discharge
In this modern era, the policy of employment-at-will cannot be practiced. It is because it goes against the tenets of employment security and tenure of office for appointed officials. This issue has raised a lot of debate among scholars. It is argued that the employer should only be allowed to dismiss an employee based on policy considerations.
The exceptions to the doctrine of employment-at-will include public policy matters and retaliatory dismissal. Others include fairness, contractual relationships, among others. Employees cannot be dismissed for reasons which contravene public policy. Employees cannot be dismissed from employment due to the employer behaving in a socially unwelcome manner (Pozgar, 2012).
In a hospital setting, a physician can be discharged from duty provided that it can be proved he was intoxicated with alcohol while on active duty. This termination is not considered discriminatory since the physician has contravened the terms and regulations of employment. Any employee who commits gross misconduct can be relieved of their duties without any unemployment benefits.
Employers should make sure that they communicate with both prospective and current employees about the terms of their employment. Before and during the employment, the employer should provide employees with copies of the terms of service and the code of standards that they are required to uphold as employees of the organization (Pozgar, 2012).
Professional Liability Insurance
One of the advantages of HMOs is that they fund the provision of a broad range of health services for their members. They offer their members a collective bargaining platform from which they can obtain medical services at discounted rates. However, their primary disadvantage is that members can only seek medical services from physicians who are registered with their HMO.
The HCQIA 1986 was passed to counter the numerous antitrust allegations. These allegations were directed at peer reviewers and credentialing procedures. It was meant to enhance participation and provide immunity from lawsuits that may arise due to misleading information (Pozgar, 2012).
Reference
Pozgar, G. D. (2012). Legal aspects of health care administration. Sudbury, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning.