Hcs 531 - Significant Health Care Event

Significant health care event

Tammy Paramore

HCS/531

September 30, 2013

Mary Helen Mays

Significant health care event

There have been many significant health care events throughout history. Florence Nightingale in 1854 pushed to enforce regulations among nurses, and improve patient's health through sanitation at facilities. Edward Jenner in 1798 invented the smallpox vaccination; this led to full eradication of the disease in 1977 because of a worldwide push to vaccinate every person around the world. This volume will show how according to (shi & Singh, 2012), litigation has changed the face of health care today how litigation has evolved through history and assess how litigation continues, based on personal values and beliefs.

Litigation as a significant event in relation to health care

Litigation according to Jean Murray (2013), a health care litigation attorney the definition of litigation is the process of taking a case through court. The litigation or legal process is most common in civil lawsuits. In litigation, there is a plaintiff (one who brings the charge) and a defendant (one against whom the charge is brought). To litigate is to file a charge against someone and bring a case to court. The alternative to litigation in health care cases is arbitration. As litigation begins to become a major concern in the health care field, most health care professionals think about it daily. Some professionals who were touched by the process will become consumed and prospects of future litigation clouding his or her and the physician or nurse begins to second guess his or her self by over ordering tests for patients, this in turn causes the cost of health care to rise. Excessive litigation is on the rise and some attorney's have begun to specialize. Advertisements such as baddrug.com are found on the television, radio, billboards, Internet pop up advertisements, news, and magazine print and other forms of advertisements. It is not uncommon to see or hear the advertisements several times a day. According to Santiani (2004), The result is some health care facilities must close because of the financial burden of payments resulting from litigation, the increase in malpractice insurance, in addition, the cost of health care rises because of the additional procedures ordered to attempt to prevent future litigation. According to Santiani (2004), the cost to practice defensive medicine increases the cost of health care two and a half times the average cost. These health care dollars could be spent in more constructive endeavors such as research and development of procedures and medications.

Another negative impact is the reluctance of companies to produce new medical devices or medications, for fear of litigation against the company or his or her person. This causes a stunt in research and development, and withholding of new innovations in medical health care. The money spent on litigation even if the practitioner wins the litigation could be spent on health care prevention methods,