HCM337-0704B-01 Current Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory Issues in H - Essay - 3

HCM337-0704B-01 Current Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory Issues in H - Phase 2 Discussion Board - Essay Example NAP’s Ethical Guidelines for Professional Care Services in a Managed Health Care Environment (1999) put patients at the top of their priorities. Their commitment for a patient-focused care means that they would rigidly observe the rights of their patients such as the right to have access to appropriate professional services, the healthcare’s obligation to meet with patient’s satisfaction, and the healthcare provider’s duty to provide delivery by uniquely trained personnel when complexity of the patient’s condition requires the knowledge and expertise beyond those of the primary care provider. Failure of compliance to these ethical guidelines can result to major penalties. A case documented by Klein and Campbell (2006) wherein members of the groups clinical and anatomic pathology laboratory, and 2 Michigan-based consulting and management services companies were sued by the government because or their alleged submission of â€Å"$1.3 million in false claims to Medicare and Medicaid†. The government also argued that the defendants â€Å"engaged in fraudulent conspiracy by offering referring physicians a discounted price for a routine, automated chemistry panel.† After the accused were proven guilty, they were, under the False Claims Act, potentially liable for 3 times $1.3 million, or $3.9 million, penalties of up to $10,000 for each of the 134,655 claims, and $116,000 for the cost of the investigation by the OIG. The physicians, who sold the laboratory to Corning in 1995 for $6.6 million, denied breaking any laws, but in 1998 settled with the government for $ 875,000. The consulting companies and their owner, whom the pathologists argued put into place the challenged billing practice, settled for $35,000. With the information supplied by other postings about my current and future health work, I can see outright the repercussions that might