State and federal governments, politicians and health care leaders work to prevent legal problems in the health care industry. In Texas, there are six legal cases that commonly appear in courts.
1. Lack of HIPAA compliance
Every type of health care law protects the privacy and confidentiality of patient records. Each year, thousands of health care workers violate the laws and face fines, job terminations, criminal convictions or blacklisting from medical professions.
2. Health care fraud and abuse
Health care fraud costs state and federal health care organizations, such as Medicare, billions of dollars in wasted funds. Every year, taxpayers, attorneys and anti-fraud agencies work at recovering the costs of fraudulent claims.
3. Medical malpractice
Medical malpractice results in misdiagnoses, injuries and deaths that lead to expensive lawsuits. The average hospital or doctor loses tens of thousands of dollars trying to fight a case in court.
4. Employer’s liability
Health care workers need to know how their employers are held liable for the injuries or illnesses they face while on the job. Determining the extent of an employer’s liability is a common challenge in medical malpractice lawsuits.
5. Negligence in long-term care homes
As of 2021, there are new federal laws that govern the administration of nursing homes, long-term care homes and skilled nursing facilities. Resident home workers now have to adhere to higher standards of care than they did a few years ago.
6. Telehealth privacy violations
Protecting a patient’s right to privacy is one of the primary goals of health care providers. These providers are not allowed to use public-facing video chat services to provide their telehealth services.
Today’s health care challenges
Lawsuits being filed is common in an industry like health where the laws change frequently. Identifying and preventing litigation is a daily way of life in the world of health care.