Medical Ethics & Patient Rights Flashcards

The ethical principle of justice in telehealth is BEST demonstrated by:

Answer: Ensuring underserved rural populations receive equitable access to care

Justice requires fair distribution of healthcare resources and services, which telehealth uniquely advances by reaching underserved and geographically isolated populations.

A patient requests a copy of their telehealth visit notes. Under HIPAA, the provider must fulfill this request within:

Answer: 30 days (with one possible 30-day extension)

HIPAA requires covered entities to provide access to records within 30 days, with one permissible 30-day extension if the entity notifies the patient.

Surrogate decision-making in telehealth is ethically appropriate when:

Answer: A patient lacks decision-making capacity and no advance directive exists

Surrogate decision-making is invoked when a patient lacks decisional capacity and there is no valid advance directive specifying their wishes.

An oncologist conducts a telehealth consult and recommends an experimental treatment. What ethical obligation exists regarding informed consent?

Answer: The patient must be fully informed of experimental nature, risks, benefits, and alternatives

Informed consent for experimental treatments requires comprehensive disclosure of all relevant information so the patient can make a truly voluntary decision.

A telehealth coordinator discovers that session data is being stored on an unencrypted personal laptop by a clinician. This violates which patient right?

Answer: The right to privacy and secure handling of health information

Patients have the right to have their health information protected with appropriate security measures, including encryption of stored data.

When a telehealth patient disagrees with a clinical recommendation and chooses an alternative treatment, the provider's ethical obligation is to:

Answer: Respect the decision, ensure the patient understands the risks, and document accordingly

Respecting patient autonomy means honoring competent patients' informed decisions even when providers disagree, while ensuring the patient understands potential consequences.

Which telehealth scenario represents a conflict of interest that must be disclosed?

Answer: A provider owning stock in a pharmacy they refer patients to

Financial interests in entities to which providers refer patients constitute a direct conflict of interest requiring disclosure under ethical and legal standards.