Question 1
Allocation of scarce resources in a disaster situation requires that a proper triage to be done on the clients. Triage entails the identification of the health needs for each client and grading the needs in terms of severity (Morrison E. & Furlong B, 2014). Clients are grouped into emergent, urgent or non-urgent case. The emergent cases, tagged red, will be addressed first before any other cases are attended to. This aids in the allocation of scarce economic resources like labor.
Question 2
The principles of ethics evident in Medicare laws include the respect for the autonomy of the patient. This accords the patient the right to refuse the treatment but with adequate information from the caregiver (Morrison E. & Furlong B, 2014). Under beneficence, a health care practitioner should always act taking into consideration the best interests of the patient. Non-malfeasance is a principle of doing no harm to the patient while justice entails equitable distribution of resources to serve all the clients.
Question 3
Advocacy of care for all entails the role of the health practitioners in representing the best interests of the patient. In this case, health care services should be equitably distributed to benefit all in the population (Morrison E. & Furlong B, 2014). Health care practitioners are under an obligation to ensure justice prevails in care provision. No patient should be discriminated against. Health care givers should speak for all the clients.
Question 4
HMO- Health Maintenance Organization
In this case, the employers negotiate with specific health care providers to treat their employees when they fall sick (Pozgar G, 2011). Employees are obliged to seek medical care only from these providers in order for the insurance cover to apply.
PPO- Preferred Provider Organization
In PPO, the employer gives a list of preferred health care providers to the employees (Pozgar G, 2011). The employees are however not restricted to such health care providers.
POS- Point of Service Plan
In POS, employees are at liberty to select their preferred service provider (Pozgar G, 2011). The employer is thus under obligation to pay for the medical expenses irrespective for the employees through the insurance cover.
Question 5
One of the most important concepts learnt in this course is the need to economize the scarce resources in managing health care (Pozgar G, 2011). This entails proper allocation of the scarce resources according to their order of need. The maxim of equity should be applied in resource allocation in order to prevent marginalization of other people in health care delivery. Transparency and accountability are important virtues that should be embraced by all health care workers.
References
Morrison E. & Furlong B. (2014) Health Care Ethics: Critical Issues for the 21st Century. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Pozgar G. (2011) Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning
