Deck 14: Privacy and Health Law

Question 1

Referring to the information given, who retains the burden of proof if the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur does not apply? Assume that at a medical malpractice trial alleging postoperative infection exactly 50% of the evidence favors the plaintiff and 50% of the evidence favors the defendant physician and hospital. Among the defendant's evidence is some indication that the patient did not comply with postoperative care instructions, including taking antibiotics to fight infection.

A) Defendant
B) Plaintiff
C) Both a and b
D) Neither a nor b

Answer 1

Plaintiff

Question 2

In a given situation, it is determined that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Regulations preempted another law. This means that the law that applies to the situation is:

A) HIPAA Privacy Regulations.
B) The other law.
C) Neither HIPAA nor the other law.
D) Both HIPAA and the other law.

Answer 2

HIPAA Privacy Regulations.

Question 3

The purpose of the concept of the designated record set is for a covered entity to: 1. Identify the portions of the medical record that a patient can have access. 2. Identify the portions of the medical record that a patient can request amendment.
3) Identify the portions of the medical record that must be disclosed for treatment, payment, and health care operations.
4) Determine the portions of the medical record that will be converted to electronic format first.

A) All of the above
B) 1, 2, and 3
C) 1, 2 and 4
D) 1 and 2

Answer 3

All of the above

Question 4

Tort action(s) include(s):

A) Defamation.
B) Misrepresentation.
C) Invasion of privacy.
D) All of the above.

Question 5

The statute of limitations refers to which one of these choices?

A) Those who practice direct health care
B) All licensed physicians
C) The time during which a lawsuit may be initiated
D) The time required for the retention of health records

Question 6

Which management input would be relevant in devising a health care facility's policy on release of health information to the media?

A) Facility legal counsel
B) Risk manager
C) Communications director or media relations manager
D) All of the above

Question 7

Which one of the following is not considered a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act?

A) Sue's Medical Billing Service: Sue works out of her home and processes the bills for the physicians in her town
B) Radiologist who contracts with a lawyer to interpret x-ray films for the lawyers' cases
C) The human resource department of Widget Manufacturing who manages the employees' health care benefits; Widget Manufacturing is self-insured for the employees' health care benefits
D) Volunteer paramedics of a rural fire department

Question 8

Negligence action(s) include(s):

A) Assault and battery.
B) Corporate negligence.
C) Malpractice.
D) Both b andc.

Question 9

Protected health information can be disclosed to law enforcement personnel without the patient's authorization for purposes of all of the following except:

A) Investigating a suspicious death.
B) Reporting child abuse and neglect.
C) Reporting gunshot wounds.
D) All of the above.

Question 10

The purpose of the Notice of Privacy Practices is: 1. For patients/policy holders to sign to give the covered entity permission to use and disclose their health information. 2. To communicate to patients/policy holders how covered entities will use and disclose their health information.
3) To inform patients/policy holders about their rights concerning their health information.
4) To tell patients/policy holders to whom and how they can complain when they think their rights have been abused.

A) All of the above
B) 1, 2, and 3
C) 2, 3, and 4
D) 2 and 3

Question 11

Which of the following is never considered confidential?

A) Peer review records
B) Incident reports
C) Credentialing files
D) Policies and procedures about access and disclosure of health information

Question 12

Which is a basic element of negligence?

A) Duty
B) Breach of duty
C) Proximate cause
D) All of the above

Question 13

An authorization that complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act includes:

A) Identification of the information to be disclosed.
B) The purpose for the disclosure.
C) The specification that the authorization is subject to revocation in 30 days.
D) All of the above.

Question 14

Laws that give patients the right to access their own health information include all except:

A) Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records.
B) Federal Privacy Act.
C) Freedom of Information Act.
D) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Question 15

Dr. Snow failed to apply the standards of skill, learning, and care expected of physicians in good standing when treating his patient, Mr. Rocky States. What is the legal term for this act of omission or commission?

A) Res ipsa loquitur
B) Respondeat superior
C) Assault and battery
D) Malpractice

Question 16

Which is a practical criterion for determining whether information is confidential or nonconfidential?

A) Was the information exchanged through a patient-provider relationship?
B) Was the information needed to treat or diagnose the patient?
C) Both a and b
D) Neither a nor b

Question 17

Which health care organization(s) is bound by the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974?

A) Indian Health Service facilities
B) State-owned behavioral health facility
C) Veterans Administration Hospital
D) Both a and c

Question 18

Assume that an employee of a hospital's health information management department inappropriately releases confidential information to a patient's employer. The patient decides to sue for breach of confidentiality. All the following parties could be held liable for this breach except the:

A) Patient's employer.
B) Employee.
C) Supervisors/managers of employee.
D) Hospital.

Question 19

Referring to the scenario below, would you agree that the defendant is more likely to win this case because the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur probably does NOT apply here? Assume that at a medical malpractice trial alleging postoperative infection exactly 50% of the evidence favors the plaintiff and 50% of the evidence favors the defendant physician and hospital. Among the defendant's evidence is some indication that the patient did not comply with postoperative care instructions, including taking antibiotics to fight infection.

A) Yes
B) No

Question 20

All of the following are considered advance directives except:

A) Durable power of attorney.
B) Durable power of attorney for health care.
C) Living will.

Question 21

The doctrine of charitable immunity was repealed as a result of the Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hospital decision by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Question 22

In litigation, the bailiff is in charge of deciding what laws are applicable to the case.

Question 23

In a malpractice action against a hospital, the hospital is the defendant.

Question 24

An employee of health information services disclosed protected health information to a media representative disguised as a medical resident. Do you agree that the employee followed release-of-information policies and procedures for health information services in this situation?

A) Yes
B) No

Question 25

In deciding malpractice cases against physicians in highly technical cases, the jury uses the standard of the "reasonable man."

Question 26

When a nursing home patient is transferred to the hospital for surgery on a broken hip sustained in a fall, the informed consent for surgery is implied in the nursing home transfer.

Question 27

If an order to appear in court and to bring patient records with you is defective because some key information is missing, the subpoena can be ignored.

Question 28

An employee of health information services disclosed protected health information to a media representative disguised as a medical resident. Do you agree that the hospital can be held liable for this event by applying the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur in this situation?

A) Yes
B) No

Question 29

When an adult patient is temporarily incapacitated (e.g., unconscious or extremely intoxicated), the family can have complete access to the patient's health record.

Question 30

Health information management professionals and their employers have a legal duty to maintain health information on the facility's patients.

Question 31

A business associate of a health care provider is:

A) Member of the covered entity's workforce.
B) Patient of the provider.
C) A volunteer who works in the surgery waiting room.
D) A company who performs a function on behalf of the provider.

Question 32

Once a paper-based health record has been converted onto microfilm, optical disk, or computerized storage, the information cannot be used as evidence.

Question 33

The principle of stare decisis is used in a judicial decision when:

A) Children are involved.
B) Societal values have changed.
C) Statutory law applies to the situation.
D) The facts of the case are similar to a case that has been decided previously.

Question 34

Because patients volunteer information to their care providers, care providers cannot be found guilty of invasion of privacy.

Question 35

Which of the following could be categorized as a health care operations use of the medical record for which authorization by the patient is generally not required?

A) Investigation of a patient complaint by the manager of the department involved
B) Review of documentation by the facility's professional liability insurer
C) Review of the record by the patient's attorney
D) a and b
E) All of the above

Question 36

An employee of health information services disclosed protected health information to a media representative disguised as a medical resident. Do you agree that the employer can be held liable for this event under the doctrine of respondeat superior in this situation?

A) Yes
B) No

Question 37

Assume that at a medical malpractice trial alleging that a sponge was left in a surgical site, exactly 50% of the evidence favors the defendant surgeon and 50% favors the plaintiff. Would you agree that the plaintiff is more likely to win the case because of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur?

A) Yes
B) No

Question 38

When should students and residents in health care professional training programs be permitted access to patient health records?

A) When the patient authorizes access
B) When the student or resident provides supervisor authorization
C) When the student or resident provides facility identification
D) When the conditions in either a or b are met
E) Under none of these circumstances

Question 39

An example of hearsay testimony is: (Quotation marks indicate statements made while testifying)

A) "I counted the sponges before the surgeon closed the wound."
B) "The nurse told me the sponge count was correct."
C) "I saw the nurse count the sponges."
D) "The usual procedure is to count the sponges before closing the incision."

Question 40

Once something is written into the medical record, it cannot be erased.

Question 41

The Patient Self-Determination Act requires that health care organizations inquire whether patients have advance directives.

Question 42

When a surgeon promises that there is no chance of a complication resulting from plastic surgery and complications happen, a fraudulent action has occurred.

Question 43

In some states, health information can be admitted as a business record.

Question 44

A breach of contractual duty may possibly occur when a physician discloses health information to a close long-time friend of a patient without the patient's authorization.

Question 45

A properly executed authorization to release alcohol-related treatment information must include a description of the information to be disclosed.

Question 46

All authorizations to release alcohol-related treatment information must include the purpose of the disclosure.

Question 47

By use of incident reports, nursing staff repeatedly report a physician for yelling at patients and their families. This action by the nurses is grounds for the physician to claim that his good name is damaged or defamed.

Question 48

The risk of refusing a procedure or treatment should be included in an informed consent for treatment.

Question 49

Interrogatories are often a part of the pretrial discovery process.

Question 50

Persons who violate the patient's right to control the flow of his or her health information can be held liable.

Question 51

A tort action is likely for an unconsented surgical procedure.

Question 52

A health professional has breached an implied contractual duty when he or she fails to report events required by law (such as industrial accidents, abortions, cancer cases, communicable diseases, and vital statistics) when required for his or her position.

Question 53

When a health care provider divulges confidential information from a patient's record to an improper recipient without the patient's permission, a breach of confidentiality and breach of duty has occurred.

Question 54

A patient is claiming negligence for a fall in the hospital that resulted in a fracture of the elbow. It is not likely this patient can claim negligence unless there was evidence that the provider breached a duty.

Question 55

A breach of contractual duty is possible when drugs are missing at the time of narcotics count on a nursing unit.

Question 56

The patient record is typically admitted into evidence as an exception to the hearsay rule.

Question 57

The confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse records is largely determined by state legislation.

Question 58

A _________________________ is a court order requiring someone to come before the court with certain records or documents.

Question 59

Personal health information used for patient treatment is subject to the minimum necessary provision of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Question 60

Age of majority indicates the number of years one must be to be considered an adult under state law.

Question 61

A legal document requiring someone to come before the court and testify is called a ____________________.

Question 62

The U.S. Bill of Rights is a source of ____________________ law.

Question 63

In setting facility policies for patient access to their health information, name the two most important sources of law that the health information management (HIM) professional should consult.

Question 64

Minors who are married, living away from home, responsible for their own support, and who the law recognizes as being able to make their own decisions and agreements are generally called ____________________.

Question 65

If, on receipt of a subpoena duces tecum, the health information management professional felt that the order was defective in some way and the facility wished to contest the validity of that order, what sort of motion would be filed by the facility's legal counsel? _________________________