Reference no: EM133435412

Illegal and Unethical Acts

Joan is a respiratory therapist at County General Hospital. Today, she has four patients who have scheduled nebulized bronchodilators at 4pm. Each therapy takes approximately 12 minutes to complete followed by about 3 minutes dedicated to charting in the medical record. The four patients have rooms near each other but each is in a private room. Joan decides to "stack" the patients' therapies: she assesses one patient, begins the nebulizer therapy, and then goes to the next patient for the same procedure. When she starts the therapy for patient #4, she returns to the first patient to stop his therapy. At the end of her shift, she documents the patients' therapies and submits billing claims for the nebulized therapy for each of the patients.

Question 1

What are the basic elements of fraud?

a. An intentional, untrue statement; justifiable reliance of the victim; and damage to the victim as a result of the untrue statement.

b. An intentional, untrue statement; justifiable reliance of the victim; damage to the victim as a result of the untrue statement; and profit by the person making the untrue statement.

c. An intentional, untrue statement; justifiable reliance of the victim; and profit by the person making the untrue statement as a result of the untrue statement.

Question 2

How did Joan commit fraud?

a. Joan submitted the billing report at the end of her shift

b. Joan billed each for a complete treatment with assumed supervision and assessment for potential side effects but did not stay in the room to supervise the patient and therapy

c. Joan did not commit fraud.  She was simply efficient in her time management skills.