Assume the following facts: A skilled nursing facility (SNF) employs physical th

Question

Assume the following facts: A skilled nursing facility (SNF) employs physical therapists to treat its Medicare patients. The physical therapists have been under pressure to increase their billable hours in order to maximize revenue from Medicare. Tired of working overtime to meet his employer's demands, one physical therapist has come up with a solution. He has persuaded a cooperative physician to order more extensive physical therapy than the patients actually need, and the physical therapist has been billing Medicare for that therapy even though the patients did not receive it. No patient has been harmed by this practice, and in fact the patients know nothing about it. A nurse at the SNF discovered this practice when she found that her patients were not receiving the therapy that had been ordered. The nurse has notified the SNF and has reported her concerns to Medicare. The SNF is threatening to fire the nurse for insubordination Analyze the legal issues in this case,from the point of view of the SNF only. What,if anything, can the SNF do now to protect itself?

Explanation / Answer

There are six ethical principles that arise frequently for the nurse/snf who works in the correctional setting.

1. Respect for persons (autonomy and self-determination)
2. Beneficence (doing good)
3. Nonmaleficence (avoiding harm)
4. Justice (fairness, equitability, truthfulness)
5. Veracity (telling the truth)
6. Fidelity (remaining faithful to one’s commitment

The legal implications of physical therapist are tied to licensure, state and federal laws, scope of practice and a public expectation that their practice at a high professional standard. The physical therapisteducation, license and standard provide the framework by which staffare expected to practice. When a practice falls below acceptable standards of care and competence, this exposes the therapist or the snf to litigation.The basis for litigation can relate to negligence, failing to exercise the level of care that a reasonable, increasing costs unnecessarily,prudent staff would under similar circumstances; malpractice;threatening staff and professional negligence, which means an act of neglect committed in the staff professional role.

To avoid all these the snf must document all the therapy and costs they have provided.As the snf did not give the basic therapy that has been ordered ,they should try to rectify it by repeating the procedures and giving the correct treatment to the patients.But the situation here has crossed the limits that the patients are paying for the treatment they have not received and inturn threatening the nurse who identified it.In such cases there are more possibility to seize or suspend by medicare laws as it is regarding patients economy.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse A
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.