EHR 210 - Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare

3 Credit Hours

This course is designed for students who will work in the healthcare industry, both in medical offices, and in nursing and technical positions in hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes. The course also targets students in the Electronic Health Records and Healthcare Information Technology curriculum. Topics include professional and career responsibilities, healthcare laws awareness, and ethical decision-making and legal responsibilities of a healthcare worker.

Prerequisite(s): EHR 100, BUS 106

Semesters Offered: Fall

COURSE RATIONALE

This course is necessary to succeed in the study of Electronic Health Records and Healthcare Information Technology as well as other Healthcare professions. Students will develop an understanding of the healthcare industry from a legal, ethical, economic, and political point of view. The student will learn how to identify potential ethical dilemmas and the various ethical approaches used to make good ethical decisions. The student will also learn the role that law plays in the medical workplace, investigating principal/agent relationships and strategies when confronted with daily interactions with patients and when asked to testify in medical malpractice suits.

COURSE COMPETENCIES AND PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

demonstrate the ability to identify ethical and legal situations arising in the healthcare workplace and develop effective decision-making strategic approaches to address such challenges
demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of types of law affecting the healthcare system, with particular attention on HIPAA privacy laws. The student will be able to understand the terms of a contract and differentiate between implied and expressed contracts.
research an issue, take a stand, and defend their stand in a public forum in the areas of healthcare law, ethics, and medical malpractice.
present analytic case studies, which present a particular ethical legal or case in healthcare and provide analysis of the case, as well as take and defend their stand on the issue.