Prepare for your Medical Law and Ethics exam with these practice questions and answers. This guide covers practice acts, HIPAA regulations, patient rights, informed consent, and professional ethics.
Q: What is the purpose of the medical practice act?
Answer: The purpose is to protect the health & safety of the general public
Q: Who establishes medical practice acts?
Answer: State legislature
Q: What are the requirements for medical licensure?
Answer: 1) Proof of successfully completed approved internship/residency program2) Information about any past convictions or history of drug or alcohol abuse
Q: What is reciprocity?
Answer: The practice of cooperation by which a state grants a license to practice medicine to a physician already licensed in another state
Q: What crimes may lead to license to be revoked?
Answer: Medicare/medicaid fraud, rape, murder, larceny, & narcotics convinctions
Q: What discipline can practice without a license?
Answer: A physician cannot legally practice medicine without a license
Q: Accreditation
Answer: Voluntary process in which an agency is requested to officially review healthcare institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, & educational programs to determine competence
Q: Standard of Care
Answer: Ordinary skill & care that all medical practitioners such as physicians, nurses, physicians assistants, medical assistants, & phlebotomists must use determined by their state license or certification& that a “reasonable” person would use in a similar circumstance
Q: Prudent Person Rule
Answer: A healthcare professional usually a physician must provide information to a patient that a reasonable prudent person would want before he or she makes a decision about treatment or refusal of treatment
Q: Statue of Limitations
Answer: Refers to the period of time that a patient has to file a lawsuit
Q: What organization provides accreditation of allied health educational programs?
Answer: Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
Q: Respondeat Superior
Answer: An employer is liable for acts of the employee within the scope of employment
Q: Guardian Ad Litem
Answer: An adult to act in the court on behalf of a child in litigation, the child does not have to sue through the guardian ad litem
Q: Prudent Person
Answer: An individual who uses good judgement or common sense in handling practical matters
Q: “Let the master answer”
Answer: Respondant superior & employer is responsible
Q: Scope of Practice
Answer: Refers to the activities a healthcare professional is allowed to perform as indicated in their licensure, certification, & training
Q: Bonding
Answer: Special type of insurance made with a bonding company that covers employees who handle financial statements, records, & cash
Q: Malpractice
Answer: Behavior or conduct by a professional that is improper or causes injury
Q: Discovery Rule
Answer: The statue of limitations or the time period, however, does not always start “running” at the time of treatment. It begins when the problem is discovered or should have been discovered, which may be some time after the actual treatment.
Q: In a medical practice, who makes final treatment decisions?
Answer: Prudent person
Q: What is a fixed-payment plan of health insurance & for whom do they offer coverage?
Answer: A payment plan for medical bills & they offer subscribers (members) complete medical care in return for a fixed monthly fee
Q: Who are the third-party payers?
Answer: A party other than the patient who assumes responsibility for paying the patient’s bills
Q: What is the purpose of the gatekeeper?
Answer: Approves patient referrals to other physicians or services
Q: Who shares the financial risk in a managed care organization?
Answer: HMO places the PCP at some financial risk if there are excessive medical expenses toward the patient’s medical care
Q: Healthcare Maintenance Organization (HMO)
Answer: A managed care plan in which a range of healthcare services are made available to plan members for a predetermined fee per member, by a limited group of providers (hospitals, physicians)
Q: Medicare
Answer: Federal program that provides healthcare for three groups of people; person 65 & older, disabled people who are entitled to social security or railroad retirement benefits, & end-stage disease patients of any age
Q: Medicaid
Answer: Federal program implemented by individual states, with the federal government paying 57% of medicaid expenses
Q: Diagnostic Related Groups (DRGs)
Answer: Designations used to identify reimbursement per condition in a hospital; used for medicare patients
Q: Examples prohibited by medicare & medicaid
Answer: physical therapy, dialysis centers, physicians must be cautious that their patient charges do not violate medicare’s fee-for-service reimbursement rule
Q: Solo Proprietorship
Answer: A solo practice in which a physician may employ other physicians & pay them a salary
Q: Associate Practice
Answer: Legal agreement in which physicians agree to share a facility & staff but not the profit & losses
Q: Partnership
Answer: Legal agreement to share in the business operation of a medical practice
Q: Group Practice
Answer: Consists of 3 or more physicians who share the same facility & practice medicine together
Q: Who are the shareholders in a professional corporation?
Answer: Members/employees
Q: What are the benefits of a professional corporation?
Answer: Medical expense reimbursement, profit sharing, pension plans, disability insurance
Q: Good Samaritan Laws
Answer: State laws that help protect healthcare professionals & ordinary citizens from liability while giving emergency care to accident victims
Q: Medical Practice Acts
Answer: Laws established in all 50 states that define the practice of medicine as well as requirements & methods for licensure in a particular state
Q: Risk Management
Answer: A practice to minimize the incidence of problem behavior that might result in injury to the patient & liability for the organization
Q: How does State Board of Medical Examiners grant licensure to physicians?
Answer: The board evaluates the qualifications of candidates who apply & pass examination. Physicians who pass board review become certified as diplomats. As board-certified physicians they may be addressed as either diplomats or fellows. (Paul Smith, M.D., Diplomat of the American Board of Pediatrics)
Q: By what method does the NBME indicate successful completion of their exam?
Answer: Entitles one to set up private practice as a general practitioner
Q: What is the purpose of the chain of command in healthcare?
Answer: Line of authority & responsibility along which orders are passed within the nursing department, the hospital, & between different units