The Tort Toolkit
This form of defamation refers to false statements that are written or printed
Libel
The type of consent required to perform an EKG.
Implied consent
This information includes names, date of birth, and social security number.
What is Personal Health Information (PHI)?
A set of principles relating to what is morally right or wrong, helping healthcare workers make decisions based on good conduct
Ethics
Name two things that you are allowed to do as an EKG technician
obtain vital signs, obtain medical history, perform/assist with EKG testing, ensure EKGs are clear and accurate
While eating lunch in the public cafeteria, an EKG technician loudly tells a coworker that a local business owner is "definitely a drug addict" because of what they saw on a chart, which is both false and damaging to the patient's reputation.
Slander
Minors, mentally incompetent individuals, and people are under the influence fall under this category
Legally disable
A federal act that ensures medical records and billing meet consistent standards for privacy and handling.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
The ethical principle that allows people to have the right to control what happens to their body
Autonomy
The formal line of authority in a healthcare facility that helps employees know who assigns work to them and protects them from liability
Chain of Command
Two nurses filmed a TikTok video in a patient’s hospital room. The patient could be seen in the background without consent, and the video was posted publicly online. What tort applies here?
Physical invasion of privacy
What must be done if a patient wants to leave a medical facility without a doctor's permission?
Patient must sign and AMA
Give two examples of medical conditions or events that are exempt from HIPAA privacy rules and must be reported to the state by law.
Possible correct answers: births and deaths, injuries caused by violence, abuse, etc.
The ethical code is based on these four principles. What are they?
Autonomy, Beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice
Three actions an EKG technician is never allowed to do because it falls outside their scope of practice
Interpret results, suggest treatment plans, prescribe, and or diagnose
An EKG technician, who has not been trained or licensed to give injections, attempts to start an IV on a patient because the nurse is busy. The technician hits a nerve, causing permanent damage to the patient's hand.
Malpractice
Legal term meaning that a person can be held legally responsible for their own actions if they cause harm to someone else
Liability
What year was HIPAA enacted?
1996
Not allowing an athlete to return to play because their injury has not fully healed. What ethical principle applies here?
Nonmaleficence
Name the direct supervisor for an EKG technician.
RN or Nurse
A patient is being uncooperative during a lead placement. The technician, frustrated, stands over the patient and says, "If you don't stop moving, I'm going to strap your arms to this table."
Assault
This term refers to viewing a patient's medical record without having a medical necessity
Snooping
Name three rights patients have under HIPAA besides patient privacy
Obtain copies of their record, sign authorization forms, file a complaint, request changes, know how their info will be used
Refusing to give a patient a medication because it has not been proven to be effective. What ethical principle applies here?
Beneficence
Explain why staying within your scope of practice is important
To protect you, your facility and your patients