Health Law: Quality and Safety of Care

(Formerly Law 727) Concerns about the quality of health care, along with concerns about its cost and accessibility, are the focal points of American health policy. This course will consider how legislators, courts, and professional groups attempt to safeguard the quality and safety of the health care patients receive. The course approaches "regulation" in a broad sense. We will cover regimes for determining who may deliver health care services (e.g. licensing and accreditation agencies), legal and ethical obligations providers owe to patients (e.g. confidentiality, informed consent), individual and institutional liability for substandard care, and various proposals for reforming the medical malpractice system. We will also discuss the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka, "Obamacare"), which has led to many new initiatives aimed at improving health care quality. Special Instructions: Any student may write a paper in lieu of the final exam with consent of instructor. After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section (01) into section (02), which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Exam or Final Paper. Cross-listed with School of Medicine (MED 209).