Unfortunately, in our initial treatment of Mr. Duncan, despite our best intentions and a highly skilled medical team, we made mistakes,” Dr. Daniel Varga, the chief clinical officer for Texas Health Resources, told Congress. “We did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola. We are deeply sorry.”
Many details about Duncan’s care remain unknown, unconfirmed, or in dispute. Please review in the assigned reading the best attempt at a timeline based on information from Varga’s congressional testimony; Duncan’s medical records, which were obtained by the Associated Press; as well as a lengthy statement provided by National Nurses United, a union that is serving as the voice for an unknown number of Presbyterian Hospital nurses who have raised serious allegations of missteps, mistakes, and failures during Duncan’s treatment.
In a 2- to 3-page paper, discuss the following:
- Is this statement by the chief clinical officer for the Texas Human Resources a breach of HIPAA? Why or why not?
- Do the nurses, physicians, and staff who came in contact with Duncan have any grounds to sue the hospital, or should they have treated Duncan as if he had an infectious disease?
- What was the hospital administrator’s responsibility in the scenario?
- Identify at least 2-3 ethical, legal, and regulatory principles that apply to this case.
Assignment Expectations
- Conduct additional research to gather sufficient information to justify/support your strategic plan.
- Limit your response to a maximum of 3 pages (title and reference pages are not included in page number count).
- Support your report with peer-reviewed articles, using at least 3-4 references.
PART2
Power Point for the Board of Directors
For the final section of your PowerPoint to the Board of Directors, complete the following in 6-8 slides:
- Identify how current political and economic developments impact healthcare.
- Explain how socio-cultural factors play a role in providing healthcare within the hospital.
- Explain the impact of the Hospital’s Ethical Committee and their duties.
- Identify the impact of technological advancements within the organization.
Dedicate one slide to complete a PEST analysis using the below grid (PEST was created by Francis J. Aguilar who discusses a mnemonic for the four sectors of his taxonomy of the environment: Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, and Technical). In each box, identify at least 3-4 impacting factors.
| Political | Economic |
| Socio-cultural | Technological |
Support your thoughts with 2-3 scholarly references.
- Conduct additional research to gather sufficient information to justify/support your strategic plan.
Reference:
Anderson-Fletcher, E., Vera, D., & Abbott, J. (2015). The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Ebola crisis: A perfect storm of human errors, system failures, and lack of mindfulness. Retrieved from https://www.uh.edu/hobby/cpp/
Burkle, F. M., & Burkle, C. M. (2015). Triage management, survival, and the law in the age of Ebola. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 9(01), 38-43. https://www.cambridge.org/
Hernandez L. M. & Blazer D. G. (2006). The Impact of Social and Cultural Environment on Health. Hardcopy Version at National Academies Press. Retrieved fromhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Hodge, J. G., Jr., Gostin, L. O., Hanfling, D., & Hick, J. L. (2015). Law, medicine, and public health preparedness: The case of Ebola. Public Health Reports, 130(2), 167
Ingram, R. C., Scutchfield, F. D., Mays, G. P., & Bhandari, M. W. (2012). The Economic, Institutional, and Political Determinants of Public Health Delivery System Structures. Public Health Reports, 127(2), 208–215. doi: 10.1177/003335491212700210. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
National Nurses United. (2014). Statement by RN’s at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital as provided to National Nurses United. Retrieved from http://www.
Price, P. J. (2015). Ebola and the law in the United States: A short guide to public health authority and practical limits. Emory Legal Studies Research Paper, (14-299). Retrieved from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/
Sandy, L. G., Bodenheimer, T., Pawlson, L. G., & Starfield, B. (2009). The political economy of U.S. primary care. Health Affairs, 28(4). https://doi.org/10.1377/
Schmall, E., Neergaard, L., & Breed, A.G. (2014, October 11). AP Enterprise: Records chronicle Duncan’s decline. Retrieved from https://www.yourconroenews.
Tartari, E., Allegranzi, B., Ang, B., Calleja, N., Collignon, P., Hopman, J., … Voss, A. (2015). Preparedness of institutions around the world for managing patients with Ebola virus disease: An infection control readiness checklist. Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control, 4(1), 1.
Venkat, A., Asher, S. L., Wolf, L., Geiderman, J. M., Marco, C. A., McGreevy, J., … Levine, A. C. (2015). Ethical issues in the response to Ebola virus disease in United States emergency departments: A position paper of the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Emergency Nurses Association, and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. Academic Emergency Medicine, 22(5), 605-615.
Answer preview
The hospital administrator is responsible for creating a conducive environment for the protection of healthcare practitioners’ health. He or she must take reasonable steps to reduce the susceptibility of the health personnel to disease. In such instances, the hospital administrator should ensure that the facility has sufficient resources to conduct prompt assessment and diagnosis of patients (National Nurses United, 2014). Another responsibility pertains to the provision of protective equipment to medical practitioners, especially when a diagnosis is yet to be made. He or she should also facilitate the education of personnel on the initiation of infection control protocols.
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