Hilltop Memorial Hospital
George Long went to the outpatient department of Hilltop
Memorial Hospital (HMH), which is an acute care general hospital in
Windsor County for diagnosis and treatment of back pain. HMH is the
safety-net hospital for uninsured, underinsured, and Medicaid
patients in its region, and it relies heavily on its insured
patients to subsidize its indigent care and its losses on Medicaid
patients.
Long had been treated at HMH many times for his back pain and
mental health conditions. As indicated by his medical record at
HMH, Long had a history of mental health problems, including
episodes of delusion.
On that particular day, Long was escorted to an examining room
in HMH’s outpatient department and was instructed to wait for the
nurse. A few minutes later, the nurse arrived to find Long running
around the examining room in an agitated manner. The nurse was
unable to calm him and immediately called for the doctor. The
doctor and nurse held Long’s arms for about one minute until he
became calm. After Long assured them that he could remain calm, the
doctor completed examination of his back and instructed him to
return in two weeks if he was still in pain.
One week later, Long went to the office of a private,
nonprofit advocacy organization called Patient Rights of Windsor
County (PRWC) to discuss his recent experience at HMH. Long told
the president of PRWC that during his visit to HMH on April 6,
2013, the doctor and nurse at HMH had slapped him in the face and
hit him in the stomach.
With the help of the president of PRWC, Long called the local
newspaper and gave this same account to a reporter. The reporter
took detailed notes of the conversation with Long and then called
the CEO of HMH to hear her side of the story. However, the CEO
replied that,
because of privacy laws, she could not comment or provide any
information about any individual patient at HMH. The local
newspaper published a story about Long’s allegations, including the
details of his statement and the fact that HMH’s CEO had no
comment. Long has not filed a complaint with the police or with any
government agency about this alleged incident, nor has he filed any
legal action against HMH or the individual healthcare
professionals.
During the next few weeks, members of PRWC participated in a
series of demonstrations on the public sidewalk in front of HMH.
Many of the PRWC members carried signs which stated “Stop HMH from
beating patients.” The local newspaper published three stories
about those demonstrations, in which the newspaper repeated Long’s
allegations and HMH’s refusal to comment.
In the three months since the first newspaper report about
Long’s allegations, HMH has experienced a severe drop in visits by
patients who have coverage through commercial health insurance or
employer-based health plans. HMH has determined that it will be
unable to pay all of its operating expenses if this situation
continues for another six months. Meanwhile, Long has refused to
discuss any type of settlement and refused to consent to the
release of his medical record.
The board of trustees of HMH (“the board”) held an emergency
meeting to discuss the situation and consider its options. After
receiving an update from the management of HMH, members of the
board suggested various alternatives. Board member A argued that
HMH must continue its current position of refusing to make any
comment or provide any information about an individual patient. In
contrast, board member B took the position that Long gave up his
privacy by giving the mass media information—albeit false
information—about his treatment at HMH. Therefore, Long would have
no right to complain if HMH were to set the record straight
by releasing medical record, which would show that he has a
long history of delusional episodes. Board member C stated that
only a stupid law would prevent HMH from defending itself and its
staff under these circumstances, and disclosing a small amount of
information about Long’s medical history would be a technical
violation at most. Finally, board member D argued that ethical
considerations require disclosing Long’s history of delusional
episodes, because the potential harm to Long from his loss of
privacy is vastly outweighed by the greater good of preserving the
community’s safety net hospital, which is at serious risk of
insolvency.
Discuss each of the Board Member’s options and whether each
option would be appropriate. In your response, please be sure to
state why or why not? Your response should be based on the
topics/areas of law discussed in the lecture. There is no need to
recite the facts or give history regarding any applicable law in
your response. Be sure to cite the relevant law and apply the law
to the facts of this particular case in your response. Your opinion
is only relevant as it relates to the outcome of each Board
Member’s proposed option.