Identifying and addressing ethical and legal factors that arise within the practice of physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Informed Consent: Ethical considerations around obtaining consent from patients for any medical or surgical procedures and treatments.
Patient Confidentiality: The obligation of healthcare practitioners to respect patient privacy and maintain confidentiality of all patient information.
Standard of Care: Understanding the legal expectations for practitioners when providing medical care.
Medical Negligence: Understanding the legal concept of negligence and its application in medical practice.
Medical Malpractice: Understanding the concept of malpractice and its legal implications for healthcare practitioners.
Medical Ethics: The principles, values, and codes of conduct that guide medical practice.
The Role of Ethics Committees: The function and responsibilities of committees that provide guidance on ethical issues in healthcare.
Discrimination and Bias: The importance of avoiding discrimination and bias in healthcare practice, specifically for individuals with disabilities.
Disability and Access: Understanding healthcare access issues for individuals with disabilities, including disability accommodations.
End-of-Life Care: Ethical and legal considerations related to end-of-life care, including advanced directives and palliative care.
Advance Directives: Understanding the different types of advance directives and their legal implications.
Cultural Competence: Understanding the importance of cultural competence in healthcare practice.
Social Determinants of Health: Understanding the social and economic factors that influence health outcomes.
Access and Equity: The importance of ensuring equitable access to healthcare services and resources.
Telemedicine: Understanding the ethical and legal considerations related to remote patient care.
Genetic Testing: The ethical and legal considerations related to genetic testing and counseling.
Reproductive Rights: Understanding the legal and ethical considerations related to reproductive rights, specifically for individuals with disabilities.
Disability Rights: The legal and ethical considerations related to the rights of individuals with disabilities in healthcare.
Patient and Family Advocacy: The role and responsibilities of healthcare practitioners in advocating for patients and families.
Diversity and Inclusion: Understanding the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion in healthcare practice.
Informed Consent: Ethical and legal principles require healthcare professionals to obtain informed consent from patients before performing any medical procedure. This includes explaining the benefits, risks, and possible complications of the procedure and engaging in shared decision-making with the patient.
Confidentiality: Health professionals are required to keep patients' medical information confidential, except where disclosure is required by law or there is a public safety issue.
Medical Negligence: Medical negligence occurs when a healthcare professional breaches their duty of care towards their patients, leading to harm or injury. Patients are entitled to sue a physician for medical malpractice in cases of negligence.
End-of-life Care: Patients have the right to choose how they want to be treated at the end of their life, including whether or not to receive lifesaving interventions like mechanical ventilation, dialysis or artificial nutrition.
Disability Rights: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Healthcare professionals must ensure that patients with disabilities receive equal access to medical care.
Quality of Life: Physicians and healthcare providers must consider the impact of illness, injury, and medical procedures on patients' quality of life, including their physical, social, and emotional well-being.
Advance Directives: Advance directives are legal documents that allow individuals to express their end-of-life preferences in writing. Healthcare professionals must ensure that patients' advance directives are honored appropriately.
Equity in Healthcare: Healthcare professionals must ensure that all patients, regardless of their socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, religion or gender, receive equitable access to quality medical care.
Patient Rights: Patients have a right to privacy, informed consent, access to medical records, and other basic rights outlined in healthcare policy and regulation.
Ethical Dilemmas: Healthcare professionals often face ethical dilemmas that require balancing the interests of the patient, the healthcare institution, and society. These issues might include conflicts of interest, allocation of finite medical resources, and end-of-life decision-making.