HSA 515 Healthcare Policy, Law and Ethics

Surveys the legal environment of the health services industry from a policy perspective, with emphasis on the tensions and trade-offs between quality and cost. Uses case law, statutory and regulatory analysis, and trends in health services delivery law to focus on the overall legal relationships among physicians, personnel, patients and healthcare institutions. Topics include access to healthcare, antitrust law, personnel licensure and institutional accreditation, malpractice, professional and institutional liability, cost containment regulation and cost controls in government programs. Also discusses the philosophical and managerial implications of ethical issues including professional codes, resource allocation; and decisions concerning impaired professionals, end-of-life decisions, experimentation and biotechnology.