CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

Medical Law, Ethics,
and Moral Issues of
Health Care
CHAPTER 3
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this chapter, the reader will be able to:
• Identify the meaning of the word
ethics.
• Compare ethics and
morality.
• Discuss whether moral and
ethical concerns may involve a
legal component.
• List some components of
moral and ethical treatment of
patients.
• Discuss the medical laboratory
worker’s responsibilities toward
the patient and the family.
• Name several formal documents
related to professional practice and
ethical treatment of the patient.
• Discuss the difference between
legal and ethical standards.
• Discuss the impact of HIPAA on
a medical practice.
• Identify some ways in which
medical information could be
unintentionally made public.
• Discuss the misuse of a computer
by a medical professional and
how disciplinary action against
the employee might ensue.
• List several methods of
protecting a patient’s records.
KEY TERMS
Breach
Causation
Damages
Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS)
Duty
Ethics
Health care clearinghouse
Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Health maintenance organizations
(HMOs)
Morality
Nurses Creed
Oath of Hippocrates
Patient’s Bill of Rights
Preferred provider plans (PPOs)
Professionalism
Risk management
Tort
Introduction
Medical law and ethics are inseparable in their approach to the rights of patients.
Patients have an inherent entitlement to certain expectations in their medical
care. Their rights as citizens do not end at the doors of medical facilities. There is
a document that is publicly displayed in most hospitals and clinics that formally
lists elements of what a patient can expect when presenting for treatment. This
publication is called the Patient’s Bill of Rights and a sample of the form from
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