Writing Homework Help

I’m working on a health & medical writing question and need an explanation to help me study.

two classmates discussion responses 125 words each with 3 references each.

one: Introduction: Medical malpractice is a term that often makes health care professionals cringe because of the magnitude of what can come of it. In the United States, our system that deals with Medical Malpractice is imperfect and there are many uncertainties when it comes to the filing of claims and the amount of time in which the medical negligence took place. Compensation for Medical Malpractice is also a hard element to estimate because of the wide variety of claims and outcomes associated with different types of negligence. Medical Malpractice treats affect the patient and the doctor because the relationship becomes tense and not to mention the costs affiliated with insurance premiums and defensive medicine.

Discussion: Medical malpractice is a claim that occurs when there is negligence to a patient that occurs in a hospital, or doctor’s office, or by a health care professional (Bal B, 2009). The quality of ethical standards and skill are instilled in a competent physician and it’s their responsibility to exercise those standards. In medical malpractice, there are a few different elements that must be confirmed and proven for the injured patient to suggest the physician acted negligently. The legal elements that must be confirmed are the duty of care owed to the patient, the breach of duty, the results of the cause of a breach, and damages that resulted (Bal B, 2009). Stakeholders and physicians in health care are certain that liability reform can be addressed in two specific ways for health care costs. The health care costs are a result of a rise in malpractice insurance premiums and defensive medicine clinicians using intentional overuse to decrease liability risk (Mello et al., 2010). Health care costs are being driven up into the billions as a result of higher insurance premiums and the requirement for additional testing and procedures prescribed by physicians (Weissert and Weissert, 2019).

Medical liability reform should be addressed at a state level rather than a federal one because of how the Medicaid Expansion is managed and the state the physician is licensed. The Medical liability reform would like to refocus how spending is distributed and lay down some rules. These new approaches include damage caps, pre-trial screening panels, attorney’s fees max, joint, and several-liability reform, collateral source rule reform, periodic payments, and statutes of limitation on claims or repose (Kachalia and Mello, 2011). As the uncertainty in the market fluctuates, have a cap or limit to spending can help save money at both a state and federal level. The medical liability reform at a state level can essentially resolve and improve the broken liability system and guarantee patients will not lose their access to a range of health care services (AMA, n.d.).

Conclusion: Laws vary from state to state, so having medical liability laws specific to each state would be ideal. Apart from caps and limits to ensure costs and premiums remain low, there are other factors states can inflict independently that address the provisions implemented whether federal or state. Medical malpractice should ultimately be addressed and assessed at a level that is much broader and affects the hospitals in the community directly.

References:

AMA. (n.d.). State medical liability reform. American Medical Association. https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/sustainability/state-medical-liability-reform.

Bal B. S. (2009). An introduction to medical malpractice in the United States. Clinical orthopaedics and related research, 467(2), 339–347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-008-0636-2

Kachalia, A. and Mello, M. M. (2011). New directions in medical liability reform. New England Journal of Medicine, 364(16), 1564-1572.

Mello, M. M., Chandra, A., Gawande, A. A., and Studdert, D. M. (2010). National costs of the medical liability system. Health Affairs, 29(9), 1569-1577.

Weissert, W. G. & Weissert, C. S. (2019). Governing health: The politics of health policy (5th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN- 9781421428949

Two: Introduction: Often people get medical malpractice and medical negligence mixed up. “Medical malpractice occurs when a health care professional or provider neglects to provide appropriate treatment, omits to take an appropriate action, or gives substandard treatment that causes harm, injury, or death to a patient” (Brazier, 2017). Medical malpractice involves intent while medical negligence does not. When a healthcare professional fails to provide appropriate care to a patient can result in a medical malpractice claim against them. For this discussion, I will discuss,what is medical malpractice? Should medical liability reform be at the state level? Federal level? If both, how should state and federal provisions be combined and coordinated?

Discussion: Medical malpractice examples include a health care professional providing incorrect diagnosis, the dosage of medications, health management, treatment, or aftercare to any patients (Brazier, 2017). Health care professionals have a duty of care. This involves delivering high- quality services to patients in their community. A breach of duty involves when a health care professional fails to provide the patient with proper treatment that results in additional harm. In the U.S. medical malpractice is considered flawed and is an issue for physicians. Physicians must not place themselves in a position where they go against their duty/responsibility. Not only that but it is recommended that they obtain medical malpractice insurance in the event of a negligence on their part (Bal, 2009).

As I mentioned above, the injured party can file a medical malpractice claim against the specific health care professional. “Once a medical malpractice claim is made, the average length of time for resolution is 5 years” (Reisch, Carney, Oster, Weaver, Nelson, Frederick, P. & Elmore, 2015). Thus, it is pertinent that the injured party go over the pros and cons before filing medical malpractice. “The injured patient must show that the physician acted negligently in rendering care and that such negligence resulted in injury. To do so, four legal elements must be proven: (1) a professional duty owed to the patient; (2) breach of such duty; (3) injury caused by the breach; and (4) resulting damages” (Bal, 2009). Many factors are involved before medical malpractice is even considered.

“Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) was one of many voices claiming as early as the 1970s that almost everybody agrees that we can save between $100 billion and $200 billion if we had effective medical malpractice reform” (Weissert & Weissert, 2019). In my opinion, I believe that medical liability reform should be at both the state and federal level.” In the United States, medical malpractice law has traditionally been under the authority of the individual states and not the federal government, in contrast to many other countries” (Bal, 2009). The State and Federal Provision should be combined and coordinated in a manner that positive medical liability reform effort continues to address both existing and developing issues. Some Institutions Pursuing solutions at both Federal and State levels to address these issues and is continuing collaboration with both state medical associations and Federal Medical Association to support its new medical liability reform legislation and defend this existing reforms.

Conclusion: Medical malpractice is expensive and costs hospitals a lot of money. Medical malpractice is a state law claim. Each state differs. Thus, I have stated that medical liability reform should be at state and federal level.

References:

Bal B. S. (2009). An introduction to medical malpractice in the United States. Clinical orthopaedics and related research, 467(2), 339–347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-008-0636-2

Brazier, Y. (2017, April 05). Medical malpractice: What does it involve? Retrieved June 14, 2021, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248175

Reisch, L. M., Carney, P. A., Oster, N. V., Weaver, D. L., Nelson, H. D., Frederick, P. D., & Elmore, J. G. (2015). Medical malpractice concerns and defensive medicine: a nationwide survey of breast pathologists. American journal of clinical pathology, 144(6), 916–922. https://doi.org/10.1309/AJCP80LYIMOOUJIF

Weissert, W. G. & Weissert, C. S. (2019). Governing health: The politics of health policy (5th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press