Syllabus

Master of Healthcare Administration

HCA 630 – Healthcare Law and Ethics – Summer B 2022

Credits - 3

Description

This course explores the range of legal and ethical issues facing healthcare administrators and providers. Students will gain expertise analyzing legal and ethical dimensions of healthcare from administrative, clinical, and organizational perspectives. Current issues, as well as perennial conflicts in healthcare law and ethics, will provide real-world case studies for students to research and debate. Throughout the course, students will gain practice integrating core healthcare law and ethics concepts and practices into their leadership approaches to ensuring excellent patient care.

Materials

All required course materials will be provided free of charge in the course.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Course Outcomes

  • Demonstrate understanding of the structure and essential processes of the U.S. legal system
  • Understand and apply fundamental legal concepts to health care settings
  • Explain and apply principles of informed consent and standard of care in health care delivery
  • Analyze case law related to physician-patient relationships and the professional duties of providers
  • Identify and explain laws and regulations related to fraud and abuse in health care delivery
  • Explain and critique the legal concepts involved in reproductive choice and end-of-life decision-making
  • Understand and apply constitutional principles upholding the government’s right to protect public health
  • Use concepts of health justice in healthcare decision-making

Assignments

Discussions

Your weekly discussion posts throughout this course – both initial and response posts – should be substantive, thoughtful, respond to the instructions, and integrate and refer to the course material. You should prioritize course content and limit references to external sources.

Week 3: Informed Consent Essay

You will write a 1500 word essay briefly describing the history of informed consent in U.S. health care delivery, its ethical basis, and its legal foundations, purpose, and protections for both patients and providers.

Week 5: Case Summary

You will write a 600 word summary stating the essential facts of a relevant case of your choosing. Additionally, you will reflect on why you chose this case, whether there are any apparent or potential examples of health injustices present, and in what way(s) you find it particularly relevant to health care administration.

Week 6: End-of-Life Planning Interview

You will interview 1 person for 20-30 minutes about their end-of-life thoughts, preferences, and wishes and submit a written reflection on the experience.

Week 7: Case Presentation

Using the same case you summarized in Week 5, you will create a 5–10 minute recorded slideshow presentation of your selected case for your classmates.

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assessment ItemPoints
Weekly discussions (8 at 5 points each)40
Week 3: Informed Consent Essay15
Week 5: Case Summary15
Week 6: End-of-Life Planning Interview15
Week 7: Case Presentation15
Total100

Grade Scale

Grade Points Grade Point Average (GPA)
A 94 – 100% 4.00
A- 90 – 93% 3.75
B+ 87 – 89% 3.50
B 84 – 86% 3.00
B- 80 – 83% 2.75
C+ 77 – 79% 2.50
C 74 – 76% 2.00
C- 70 – 73% 1.75
D 64 – 69% 1.00
F 00 – 63% 0.00

Schedule

Course learning modules are divided into weeks. Each week starts on Wednesday at 12:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) and closes on Wednesday at 11:59 PM ET, with the exception of Week 8, which ends on Sunday at 11:59 PM ET. All assignments must be submitted by 11:59 PM ET on their due date.

  • Week 1: Jun 22 – Jun 29
  • Week 2: Jun 29 – Jul 6
  • Week 3: Jul 6 – Jul 13
  • Week 4: Jul 13 – Jul 20
  • Week 5: Jul 20 – Jul 27
  • Week 6: Jul 27 – Aug 3
  • Week 7: Aug 3 – Aug 10
  • Week 8: Aug 10 – Aug 14
Learning Modules Topics Assignments Due

Week 1

Introduction to Legal System Structure and Process

Week 1 Discussion: Initial post due by Sunday, Responses due by Wednesday

Week 2

The Patient-Provider Relationship

Week 2 Discussion: Initial post due by Sunday, Responses due by Wednesday

Week 3

Liability of Health Care Professionals and Institutions and Federal Emergency Medicine Requirements

Week 3 Discussion: Initial post due by Sunday, Response due by Wednesday

Week 3 Informed Consent Essay: Due by Wednesday

Week 4

Health Care Fraud and Abuse

Week 4 Discussion: Initial post due by Sunday, Responses due by Wednesday

Week 5

Public Health Law: Tensions between Government and Individuals

Week 5 Discussion: Initial post due by Sunday, Response due by Wednesday

Week 5 Case Summary: Due by Wednesday

Week 6

Special Topics: End-of-Life Planning and the Right to Die

Week 6 Discussion: Initial post due by Sunday, Response due by Wednesday

Week 6 End-of-Life Planning Interview: Due by Wednesday

Week 7

Special Topics: Reproductive Rights

Week 7 Discussion: Initial post due by Sunday, Response due by Wednesday

Week 7 Case Presentation: Due by Wednesday

Week 8

Health Justice

Week 8 Discussion: Initial post due by Wednesday (beginning of Week 8), First response due by Friday, Second response due by Saturday

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Healthcare Administration page

APA Style Guide

UNE Libraries:

UNE Student Academic Success Center

The Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of services to support your academic achievement, including tutoring, writing support, test prep and studying strategies, learning style consultations, and many online resources. To make an appointment for tutoring, writing support, or a learning specialist consultation, go to une.tutortrac.com. To access our online resources, including links, guides, and video tutorials, please visit:

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Policies

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the Turnitin Student quick start guide.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Attendance Policy

Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.