Medical Ethics & Patient Rights Flashcards
7 cards from real CHP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Medical Ethics & Patient Rights flashcards as text
A terminally ill patient requests information about palliative sedation. The ethical justification for this practice is typically grounded in:
Answer: The doctrine of double effect and patient autonomy
The doctrine of double effect permits sedation whose primary intent is comfort, even if a secondary effect may hasten death, when combined with patient autonomy.
Under HIPAA, a covered entity must respond to a patient's request to amend their PHI within:
Answer: 60 days, with one 30-day extension if needed
HIPAA's Privacy Rule requires covered entities to act on amendment requests within 60 days, extendable by 30 days with written notice.
A staff member posts a general comment about a 'difficult patient day' on social media without naming any patient. This action is BEST described as:
Answer: A potential HIPAA violation if the post could identify a patient in context
Even without explicit identifiers, contextual details can constitute a HIPAA violation if they could reasonably identify a specific patient.
A hospital ethics committee is most appropriately consulted when:
Answer: There is a conflict between patient wishes, family demands, and medical recommendations
Ethics committees provide guidance on complex value conflicts involving patient autonomy, family interests, and clinical judgment.
Which patient right under the HIPAA Privacy Rule allows a patient to request restrictions on how their PHI is used or disclosed?
Answer: Right to request restriction
The right to request restriction (45 CFR §164.522) allows patients to ask covered entities to limit certain uses or disclosures of their PHI.
A physician performs a procedure on an unconscious emergency patient without prior consent. This is ethically justified under the principle of:
Answer: Implied emergency consent
Implied emergency consent allows providers to treat unconscious patients when immediate intervention is necessary to prevent death or serious harm.
When a patient exercises their right to an accounting of disclosures, the covered entity must track disclosures made for which purposes?
Answer: Disclosures outside of treatment, payment, and healthcare operations
HIPAA requires accounting of disclosures made for purposes other than treatment, payment, and healthcare operations (TPO), which are generally excluded.