HLT 520 Week 1 Legal and Ethical Principles in Health Care Discussions

HLT 520 Week 1 Legal and Ethical Principles in Health Care Discussions

 

 

HLT 520 Week 1 Discussion 1 Latest-GCU

A patient is in a coma that appears irreversible. His mother, who is his surrogate, firmly believes that he will recover and that God is taking a hand to work a miracle if everyone will just wait long enough. She wants everything done for the patient, including resuscitation if he arrests. She insists that he stay in the hospital, and is very upset that he was transferred out of the ICU and his care was moved to comfort measures, rather than aggressive treatment. The mother does not speak English and is strong in her religious beliefs. The physicians for the patient are very upset and concerned about continuing to provide care that they believe is futile. The patient is developing a serious pneumonia, and the mother wants it treated aggressively. The physicians are reluctant. Analyze this case from the ethical principles of justice, benevolence, non-malfeasance, and autonomy.

HLT 520 Week 1 Discussion 2 Latest-GCU

In this time of limited financial resources and reduced government payments for health care services, what are the ethical issues of limiting care? How much uncompensated care can hospitals absorb? Where do people with no resources go for care? What is the state’s responsibility to ensure health care services? What are the ethical considerations that should be taken into account?

 

GCU HLT 520 Week 1 Ethical Study Review

Details:

Scenario: A 96-year-old male patient is admitted to the ICU with terminal liver cancer. He is confused and disoriented, very skinny and appears underfed, and is covered with bruises, which are common in patients with liver disorders. His daughter, who is a naturopathic physician, insists that she can cure her father by administering unknown substances, some of which smell like feces and look like tar, down his NG tube. He is clearly in pain after she does this. She insists that these are life-saving interventions on her part, but the nursing and physician staff caring for the patient are very upset and concerned that she is hastening his death. They have come to you for help.

1) Write a paper (1,250-1,500 words) that describes how to use the method of ethical decision making, reviewed in the module, to help resolve this ethical dilemma. Address the following to generate your conclusions about how you would proceed:

1. a) What are the dimensions of the ethical dilemma?
2. b) What are the issues?
3. c) Apply the four core ethical principles and the process of ethical decision making.

2) Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

3) This assignment uses a grading rubric. Instructors will be using the rubric to grade the assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for successful completion of the assignment.

 

 

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How much uncompensated care can hospitals absorb?

Introduction

I’ve been practicing medicine for 25 years, and I can tell you that the cost of living has gone up a lot. The pay rates have gone down, too. It’s really hard to keep up with those two things when they’re happening at the same time.

But an increasing number of hospitals in Oregon and across the country are closing.

But an increasing number of hospitals in Oregon and across the country are closing.

Hospitals are closing because of the cost of uncompensated care, which is a problem for all hospitals but especially rural ones that serve more people with low incomes and who lack insurance coverage. The problem is getting worse as more people lose their insurance or can’t afford it at all because they lost their jobs or received bad news about their health.

One hospital’s CEO says he’s losing $1 million a week.

One hospital’s CEO says he’s losing $1 million a week.

The CEO of the hospital in question is saying that he has to absorb all these uncompensated cases because of the surprise hospital tax passed by state lawmakers, and if they don’t pay out all that money, then there won’t be any left over for other needs.

When you see this level of uncompensated care, there’s some serious concerns about how to keep doors open.

Uncompensated care is a big deal in the healthcare industry. It’s what happens when people who don’t have insurance and can’t afford to pay for their services go without getting them, which means that hospitals have to absorb those costs themselves.

Hospitals are struggling with uncompensated care because they need to maintain patient volumes (the amount of patients they treat), but also because many patients don’t want or need health care services that would cost money—especially if there’s no financial incentive for them to obtain those services. This situation has been going on for years now—and it’s getting worse every year.

The president’s budget has called for caps on Medicaid and cuts to Medicare, which has been a concern for hospitals.

The president’s budget has called for caps on Medicaid and cuts to Medicare, which has been a concern for hospitals.

Medicaid is a federal program that provides health coverage to low-income people. Medicare is a federal program that provides health coverage to those who are age 65 or older.

There are only two ways to bring down costs, and one is volume.

There are only two ways to bring down costs, and one is volume. If you want to reduce the amount that hospitals charge for services, you have to increase volume.

Let’s say your hospital charges $100 per day for care at its emergency room. That’s a pretty good rate compared with other places—maybe even below average—but it’s still too expensive for most patients. So what can you do? You could lower your rates gradually over time, but eventually people would start leaving because they’d found another hospital that charged less than yours did (and maybe even had better outcomes). And if no one was going there anymore because everything was cheaper elsewhere… well then maybe we’re all better off staying home instead of coming into town when our kid needs stitches or whatever else might happen during those visits!

One of the biggest curveballs for us was the surprise hospital tax that was imposed in Oregon a few years ago.

One of the biggest curveballs for us was the surprise hospital tax that was imposed in Oregon a few years ago. The business community was shocked to learn that hospitals were being taxed based on uncompensated care, rather than their actual revenue.

The problem with this tax is that it doesn’t take into account any of these factors—it just counts uncompensated care as part of total revenue and taxes it accordingly. The result? Hospitals get hit with higher taxes than they would’ve otherwise been subject to even though they provide more services than they did before this new law kicked in (and likely still do).

The volume is not enough to support the facilities that we have.

The volume is not enough to support the facilities that we have.

The facilities are too expensive to maintain and they are also too large for the number of patients that they serve. This means that there are more patients than there are beds, which creates a strain on our system and leads to overcrowding and other problems like patient safety concerns or even delays in treatment due to waiting rooms being full of people who need help getting care from medical professionals.

In addition, many hospitals were built before modern technology became available; these buildings may not meet current standards for energy efficiency or accessibility for disabled individuals because they were not designed with these needs in mind when designing them originally (for example: elevators).

Our rural hospitals are really struggling right now.

Our rural hospitals are really struggling right now.

Why? Because of low volume, high cost of living and low pay rates. And the hospital tax (which means you pay more if you live in a rural area).

It feels like we’re circling the drain right now.

It feels like we’re circling the drain right now.

The hospital is closing, and it’s losing money. They’re trying to cut costs, but they can’t really do that because they need to maintain the quality of care they provide. They’re also looking for ways to make more money, which means increasing volume or increasing the number of patients they see per day—but these things are expensive! So instead of getting paid more by insurance companies or Medicare/Medicaid, hospitals have been forced into making difficult decisions about how much uncompensated care they can absorb at any given time before their business model starts falling apart entirely.

It’s hard to keep up with the increasing cost of living and decreasing pay rates.

You’re likely aware that the cost of living is increasing, and you may also be aware that your hourly wage isn’t increasing at an equal rate. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why hospitals are seeing their uncompensated care costs increase—and it’s not just because they have more people coming in for help.

The primary reason for this is that fewer people have insurance coverage these days. As mentioned above, there has been a decrease in the number of insured Americans since Obamacare was implemented (though some say this trend has reversed). This means that when someone does seek treatment at a hospital emergency room or urgent care facility after an accident or illness, there will be no way for them to pay for those services unless they qualify for charity care through Medicaid programs like BadgerCare Plus or Wisconsin Health Foundation CareNet Plus; otherwise their only option would be having their family members pay off debts associated with medical bills incurred during recovery periods while waiting on insurance coverage decisions from employers/insurance companies themselves–which could take months if not years!

Conclusion

As a healthcare provider, it’s hard to keep up with the increasing cost of living and decreasing pay rates. Hospitals are losing millions of dollars a week in uncompensated care, and their closings are becoming more common. The president’s budget has called for caps on Medicaid and cuts to Medicare, which has been a concern for hospitals. In addition to those pressures, there are only two ways to bring down costs: volume or pricing. The former requires more beds or fewer patients per day; the latter might mean higher prices per visit or less care overall (as seen in this article).