The Respiratory Therapist's Legal Answer BookEach day a new law or regulation affects the way respiratory therapists perform their jobs. This basic legal guide contains the extensive information respiratory therapists need to know about the court system, lawyers, law, and litigation. Written by the author, a lawyer and therapist with 13 years of clinical experience ranging from floor therapy to administrative and management functions, this book combines the author's knowledge of the complex interactions in the legal system and how the legal system relates to therapy delivered at the bedside. A resource for students and professionals, the book presents 16 areas of the law, including medical negligence, hospital law and employment law. The text also contains a series of questions and answers about the subject areas of the law, and provides extensive guidance for therapists navigating the treacherous currents of ever changing laws. This is a book for anyone who treats respiratory therapy patients or manages therapists. Most legal texts are written either by non-lawyers or non-therapists. Non-lawyers do not understand the complex interactions in the legal system, and are not permitted to give advice. Non-therapists may understand the law very well, but be unable to relate to how therapy is delivered at the bedside. This book is written by a therapist who is a lawyer, and who has been at the bedside. With thirteen years of clinical experience ranging from floor-therapy to administration and management functions, the author understands how a hospital works. The result is a book that is useful both as a course-book and as a reference |
Contents
Chapter | 1 |
Chapter | 14 |
Essential Employee Rights in Contracts and Benefits | 81 |
What Is Freedom of Contract? | 82 |
Is the Employment Relationship a Contract? | 83 |
Are There Circumstances That Can Create a Contract? | 84 |
Are All States Employment at Will? | 85 |
What Is a Service Letter? | 86 |
Must Sexual Discrimination Be Across Genders? 143 | 143 |
What Is Disability Discrimination? 144 | 144 |
Is It Lawful to Discriminate on the Basis of National Origin? 145 | 145 |
Are Foreign Nationals Covered? 146 | 146 |
What Is Religious Discrimination? 148 | 148 |
How Does an Employee File a Charge of Discrimination? 149 | 149 |
H Key Points 154 | 154 |
Essentials of Employment Law for Managers 155 | 155 |
What Constitutes an Employment Contract? | 87 |
What Are NonDisclosure and NonCompete Clauses? 888 | 88 |
If My Employer Insists on Such an Agreement What Should I Do? | 89 |
How Are Agreements Enforced? | 90 |
What Happens if You Violate an Agreement? | 91 |
Are Covenants Not to Compete Limited in Any Way? | 92 |
What Are Choice of Law Provisions? | 93 |
What Is Choice of Forum? | 94 |
Should I Agree to Alternate Dispute Resolution? | 95 |
E What Rights Are Protected by Labor Relations Laws? | 96 |
Is the Right to Group Action Protected? | 97 |
How Does the NLRB Work? | 99 |
F Are There Employment Rights Unique to Health Care? | 100 |
What Issues Affect Workload? | 101 |
What Is the Difference Between Triage and Abandonment? | 102 |
Should Therapists Be the Patients Advocate? | 103 |
What Rights Exist in Workers Compensation? | 104 |
Must I Report My Injury? | 105 |
Essential Employee Rights Granted By Federal and State Law | 113 |
E What Are Whistleblower Statutes? | 134 |
What Is the Federal False Claims Act? | 135 |
How Has the FCA Been Used? | 136 |
Are There State False Claims Acts? | 138 |
F What Happens in Unlawful Termination Litigation? | 139 |
What Is an Example of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress? | 208 |
What Is Extreme and Outrageous Conduct? | 209 |
What Is Invasion of Privacy? | 210 |
B What Is the Plaintiffs Burden in Malpractice? | 240 |
How Does a Plaintiff Go About Proving the Standard | 257 |
How Important Is It to Investigate Fully? | 287 |
H Key Points | 290 |
Summary | 291 |
What Every Therapist Should Know About Risk Management | 293 |
B What Does a Risk Manager Do? | 294 |
What Is Systems Analysis? | 295 |
Would Systems Analysis Have Stopped Efren Saldivar? | 297 |
Why Is Systems Analysis the First Line of Defense? | 298 |
Is This a Search for a Scapegoat? | 299 |
How Should Investigations Be Handled? | 300 |
How Important Is Identifying Individual ErrorMakers? | 301 |
How Should Investigations into Abuse and Neglect Proceed? | 302 |
How Do We Find Out What Went Wrong? | 303 |
What About Mere Negligence? | 304 |
What About Impaired Mental Function? | 305 |
Is Quality Improvement a Part of Effective Risk Management? | 306 |
E How Does Tracking Errors Improve Care? | 307 |
Protecting Yourself and Your Employer | 325 |
Chapter 2 | 332 |
Business Law Protecting Your Own Business | 349 |
Surviving Litigation | 401 |
A Introduction | 427 |
The Ethical Rules of Health Care | 461 |
498 | |
A The Legal System | 515 |
What Are Slander Libel? 211 | |
429 | |
Why Are Contracts Important to Therapists? | 1 |
51 | 51 |
How Do Courts Look at Contracts? | 57 |
Employment at Will? 139 | 139 |
Are There Statutory Exceptions? 140 | 140 |
What Is Age Discrimination? 141 | 141 |
What About GenderBased or SexBased Discrimination? 142 | 142 |
What Are the Rules on Hiring? 156 | 156 |
What Are Employers Prohibited to Do? 157 | 157 |
Are All Forms of Discrimination Unlawful? 160 | 160 |
Are There Rules Governing Promotion and Transfer? 161 | 161 |
What Are the Rules on Firing and Demotion? 163 | 163 |
Should I Be Concerned About the NLRB? 164 | 164 |
How Important Are Investigation Procedures? 165 | 165 |
How Important Is Documentation? 167 | 167 |
What Is a Hostile Work Environment? 168 | 168 |
Do Different Rules Affect the News Media? 212 | 212 |
Torts based on Negligence 213 | 213 |
E What About My Employers Promise of Providing | 262 |
of Medications? 307 | 307 |
How Do We Encourage Error Analysis? 308 | 308 |
How Does This Affect Patient Incidents? 309 | 309 |
When Should I File an Incident Report? 310 | 310 |
Can You Admit Error Without Admitting Liability? 311 | 311 |
When Should a Mediator Be Considered? 313 | 313 |
Why Is It Necessary to Protect the Medical Record? 314 | 314 |
Do Late Entries Create a Problem? 315 | 315 |
What Is an Incident Report? 316 | 316 |
How Important Are Incident Reports? 317 | 317 |
How Do I Write a Good Incident Report? 319 | 319 |
The Civil LawProtecting Yourself and Family 367 | 367 |
477 | |
484 | |
Key Points | i |
Does a Patient Have a Right to Emergency Care? | v |
F Are Warranties Contracts? | vi |
J Summary | xv |
How Are Negligent Torts Different from Intentional | 1 |
Can Health Care Providers Discriminate? | 9 |
44 | 44 |
Essential Employee Rights Granted By Federal and State Law 113 | 113 |
Essentials of Tort Law 199 | 199 |
Torts? 213 | 213 |
Is Public Policy Important? 214 | 214 |
What Is This Concern with Foreseeability? 215 | 215 |
What Is Considered to Be a Breach of Duty? 218 | 218 |
What Is Proximate Cause? 219 | 219 |
What Kinds of Damages Exist? 220 | 220 |
What Are Noneconomic Damages? 221 | 221 |
What Are Punitive Damages? 222 | 222 |
What Is Premises Liability? 223 | 223 |
What Is Causation? 224 | 224 |
What Is Joint and Several Liability? 225 | 225 |
What Are Abnormally Dangerous Activities? 226 | 226 |
What Is Strict Product Liability? 227 | 227 |
What Is a Design Defect? 228 | 228 |
What Is a Failure to Warn? 229 | 229 |
What Is Respondeat Superior? 230 | 230 |
What Determines MasterServant Relationships? 231 | 231 |
What Is Ostensible Agency? 232 | 232 |
G Summary 233 | 233 |
Consequences of Medical Error 235 | 235 |
What Is Medical Error? 236 | 236 |
B What Is the Plaintiffs Burden in Malpractice? 240 | 240 |
How Does a Plaintiff Go About Proving the Standard | 257 |
F How Do I Document and Save Myself? 267 | 267 |
G How Important Is Team Communication? 285 | 285 |
Surviving Litigation 401 | 401 |
Common terms and phrases
abuse action agreement attorney cause Chapter charge claim client clinicians compliance conduct contract corporation counsel coverage criminal damages debt defendant discrimination document drug duty EEOC Efren Saldivar employee employment enforce ethical example expert False Claims Act federal court FMLA fraud happened harm health care HIPAA hire hospital important incident report individual injury insurance company intentional intubation investigation issue jury lawsuit Lawyer Witness Lawyer liability litigation malpractice medical error medical malpractice medical negligence medical record ment nurse officer organization party patient payday loan payment person physician plaintiff ployee power of attorney problem professional protect question reason respiratory therapist result Risk Manager rule Saldivar someone Sometimes standard statute strict liability sued Supreme Court tell termination testify things tion tort treatment trial unlawful violation whistleblower Witness Lawyer Witness wrong