Liabilities concepts and applications

¶ … American Medical Association. The writer explores the association and recommends some ideas to more effectively manage the liabilities. There was one source used to complete this paper.

The American health care system has been under extreme scrutiny in recent years, but not for its ability to deliver health care. While the cost of health care has skyrocketed in recent decades people continue to come from around the world to America for medical treatments that save their lives. The American Medical Association is an organization dedicated to guiding the nation's physicians in the care and ethics that they practice in their medical professions and careers.

AMA EXPLAINED

The American Medical Association was invented and designed to help physicians care for their patients by providing a nationwide code of ethics and morals that the members subscribe to following.

In addition to setting blueprint guidelines for patient care, the organization also works to affect change in the profession by supporting legislation and lobbying for changes that will benefit its members.

AMA policy on issues in medicine and public health is decided through its democratic policy-making process, in the AMA House of Delegates (Principles of medical ethics http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2512.html)."

The organization has a significant impact on the shaping of the future of medicine by using the group as one voice to affect such changes.

The AMA was founded by a doctor named Nathan Smith Davis (Principles of medical ethics http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2512.html).

With several thousand current members in America today the organization advocates in many areas including:

Medicare physician payment reform

Regulatory relief Patient safety

Quality improvement in health care

Expanding coverage for the uninsured

Increasing access to care Managed care reform (Principles of medical ethics http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2512.html)"

The medical profession has always conformed and subscribed to a body of ethical statements that physicians are expected to follow. The AMA provides guidelines for following those ethics and helps determine when the boundaries have been crossed and action should be taken against a doctor (Principles of medical ethics http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2512.html).

The medical profession has long subscribed to a body of ethical statements developed primarily for the benefit of the patient. As a member of this profession, a physician must recognize responsibility to patients first and foremost, as well as to society, to other health professionals, and to self. The following Principles adopted by the American Medical Association are not laws, but standards of conduct which define the essentials of honorable behavior for the physician (Principles of medical ethics http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2512.html)."

Some of the principles of ethics that physicians are expected to abide by include:

dedication providing competent medical care, with compassion and respect for human dignity and rights (Principles of medical ethics http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2512.html)."

Upholding the standards of professionalism, be honest in all professional interactions, and strive to report physicians deficient in character or competence, or engaging in fraud or deception, to appropriate entities (Principles of medical ethics http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2512.html)."

Respecting the law and also recognize a responsibility to seek changes in those requirements which are contrary to the best interests of the patient (Principles of medical ethics http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2512.html)."

Respecting the rights of patients, colleagues, and other health professionals, and shall safeguard patient confidences and privacy within the constraints of the law (Principles of medical ethics http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2512.html)."

In addition physicians are expected to maintain regular educational hours to remain on top of the latest breakthroughs in medical science so that they can better serve their patients.

Physician liabilities are limited to committing any act that is not in keeping with the AMA standards of ethics as defined by a court of law if it goes to court, and defined by the AMA if the AMA deems sanctions to be appropriate.