Criminal Behavior by Health Care Provider
While the U.S. federal government has established various programs to deal with abuse and fraud cases in the healthcare industry, healthcare facilities still experience such incidents. An example of a recent criminal act in a healthcare facility is a molestation case that occurred at Stanford Health Care. A man filed a lawsuit against this healthcare provider alleging that he was sexually abused at age 16 while under anesthesia in the hospital (Lee, 2016). The individual sued the hospital for negligence on claims that some of its workers did not report the incident and had knowledge that the abuser had a tendency of having inappropriate sexual contact. He also stated that leaders at the hospital created a toxic environment since some managers grouped together and protected each other while retaliating against those who reported their illegal acts.
This criminal act contravenes the federal government requirement for healthcare facilities to establish corporate compliance programs that among other things provides a code of conduct for all employees (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2005). In this regard, Stanford Health Care failed to establish a corporate compliance program that will guide the activities of all employees on a daily basis and prevent and identify any violations of governmental policies, regulations, and laws.
The criminal action has ramifications for the individual and organization i.e. healthcare facility. For the individual, the criminal action contributed to an unprecedented experience with significant physical and emotional implications. For Stanford Health Care, the incident could result in negligence liability for failing to act reasonably based on the danger posed by the abuser and group of managers. The facility could also be held liable for negligent hiring through failure to carry out a proper pre-employment screening or failing to establish suitable measures for supervising its employees while on duty (Herman Law, n.d.).
References
Herman Law. (n.d.). Hospitals: Do You Know Who is Caring for You? Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://www.hermanlaw.com/practices/hospitals/
Lee, J. (2016, September 30). Stanford Health Care Sued for Negligence in Patient Molestation Case. The Mercury News. Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/09/30/stanford-health-care-sued-for-negligence-in-patient-molestation-case/
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2005, January 31). Compliance Program Guidance for Hospitals. Retrieved from Office of the Inspector General – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website: https://oig.hhs.gov/authorities/docs/cpghosp.pdf
