Legal, Ethical & Social Issues In Medical Informatics Instructor: Sheila Joyce, JD
Course Goals
Class Issue-Spotting : An Introduction
The American Legal System and Foundations of Law and Ethics
Who are the Key Governmental Regulatory Players in Medical Informatics Today?
Intellectual Property Issues in Medical Informatics
Ethical and Social issues of Concern to Informaticist: An Interactive Class Discussion of Ethics Case Studies
Antitrust Issues Arising from Data Handling
Desired Course Outcome
Protected Health Information (PHI) and understand the range of permissible uses and disclosures allowed by HIPAA
Analyze, criticize and construct rigorous policy-oriented arguments for the appropriate handling of healthcare data
Basic government regulations and legal principles applicable to healthcare data management (i.e. how to keep your CIO out of jail)
The Joint Commission's accreditation interest in medical informatics and data handling
The key components of an effective compliance program, including a demonstration of regulatory informatics
Regarding future legal and ethical regulation of medical informatics in the U.S. social landscape
Develop a basic facility with legal terminology to be in position to know when, and how, to consult effectively with corporate legal counsel
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Artifacts:
Issue spotting exercise.pps
Issue spotting exercise.doc
Quality & Price of healthcare-Can Health Insurance Help.doc
Privacy Changes Will Task H...doc
The Joint Commission.doc
The issue spotting artifacts deal with hospital cases in which legal situations arise and must be spotted. Issues range from business associate agreements to protected health information and HIPAA disclosure regulations. "The Quality & Price of healthcare-Can Health Insurance Help?" is a research paper looking at how health insurance might be changed to become part of the solution rather than part of the problem. The issue of single payer health insurance is covered in the Med Info 401 artifact Single Payer Health Insurance.doc. "The Privacy Changes Will Task H...doc" points out some of the issues created in the new privacy/security requirements under the economic stimulus law. The "Joint Commission.doc" is a brief summary of what certification by The Joint Commission means to a hospital.
Main Take-Away
The health care industry is highly regulated and legal issues for the informaticist can come from many sources. The informaticist must be aware of governmental regulatory rules, intellectual property rights, antitrust issues along with social and ethical considerations, and be ready to mitigate legal problems before they arise..
Areas of Strength
I have a strong business law grounding and have a good understanding of the ever expanding and evolving HIPPA regulations. I have a good grasp of social, ethical and legal issues arising from clinical data handling and reporting
Areas for Development
There is a constant need to keep abreast of the changing Federal and State regulatory requirements and the opportunities presented under the Stimulus act.