Research Paper on The Civil Rights Act. Risk Management.

At what level of the judicial court system did this legal opinion occur?

The legal opinion concerning this case occurred in the US court of appeal. According to the article, the judicial court system can be ranked from the smallest which is the District Court, the US court of appeal, and the Supreme Court which is the highest level (Reynolds, 2004).

What was the opinion of the lower court that was finally overturned in Simkins?

The opinion of the lower court indeed the District court was that it dismissed the case and the hospitals could not be stopped from segregating patients based on Color and only the white physicians were given priority to carry out medical procedures (Reynolds, 2004). Additionally, by dismissing the case, this court allowed institutions to continue discriminating the blacks regarding their admission to medical courses.

Explain at least one the federal laws that were highlighted in Simkins v. Moses H. Cone and how did the federal law play a role in deciding this case?

One of the federal laws highlighted in Simkins v.s. Moses H. Cone is the Civil Right Act of 1866. This law was the basic policy governing the civic equality among all races in the American society. The law was passed following the civil war and according to its obligations; all persons born in America were supposed to be treated equally regardless of their race, color, and previous association with slavery. This law has discouraged any discrimination based on color and race. According to the case filed by Simkins, the blacks have been discriminated concerning their access to better education and medical practice despite their qualifications. Again, the patient admission is also selective whereby the patients are segregated based on color and not disease conditions and denied medical funds. The above practice has perverted the requirement of the Civil Right Act (Reynolds, 2004).

The Civil Rights Act has played a very significant role in deciding this case. To begin with, the practice according to the requirements of the law was wrong. It was unlawful to deprive individuals their rights based on color and racial status. The Judges had different arguments based on facts that were grounded on racial and ethnic differences. Again, both federal and district court systems had a weakness concerning their practice of the law. Every ruling was done to favor the white regardless of the weight of the case and hoe the problem affected the blacks as observed in some appeals made by Simkins. Eventually, the law facilitated application of equality concerns thus making the court of appeal to rule in favor of Simkins (Reynolds, 2004).

Identify and discuss the Constitutional amendments and issues in the case.

From the Simkins case study, constitutional amendments are required to ensure equal access to resources and services. From the issues that were arraigned in court, it is clear that resources and services were not distributed equally among all citizens regardless of their color and racial status. One of the issues whereby non-whites are denied access to education has given an implication that the whites never wanted to share these resources equally even after amending the civil right act. The other issue on segregated admission to hospitals also indicates that the whites limited their services when it came to the blacks. Constitutional amendments to the federal act are recommended to ensure there is equality regarding access to resources and institutional services. Apart from equal access to resources, constitutional amendments should also be considered regarding the racial identification in the public institutions. The health care act was also available for constitutional amendment to facilitate access to healthcare services and funds (Reynolds, 2004).

Explain why the case was limited in its reach.

This case was limited in its reach because of poor representation of the minority groups in the judicial system. The minority, including the black, had little impact on the judicial system and therefore this case faced a lot of limitations before attaining justice. Another factor is ignorance and selfishness as portrayed by the whites. The Civil Rights Act was very clear concerning non-discrimination, but due to ignorance, the whites disregarded the other minority groups.

Identify the federal official and agency that finally extended the cases ruling and how the cases outcome spread across the Nation.

NAACP agency extended the cases' ruling, and the federal official responsible for this was Michael Meltsner (Reynolds, 2004). The extension of this case by this agency developed a legal argument that proved successful before the US court of appeals fourth circuit. From the ruling, it was directed that hospitals should offer equal opportunities to all citizens and black physicians were also directed to be given a chance to practice their expertise. Additionally, the black physicians were also found to be smart as compared to the whites. The above ruling has marked the exercise of justice. The outcome was again taken differently across the nation where some supported the ruling while others were against the exercise of justice concerning equality among all American citizens. Another implication of the outcome was the racial integration whereby some hospitals in Virginia about 47% complied with the Medicare guidelines.

Basic Health Access Blog

From the Basic Health Access blog, Simkins vs. Moses H. Cone Hospital has not decreased health inequalities. The case was based on disparities affecting the minority groups, and from the blog post, there are several problems and issues facing the healthcare system. From the Simkins case, the court ruling only solved a potion for the challenges. As the designers of healthcare, IOM has discovered the many inequalities regarding delivery of quality care. One of the healthcare inequalities, as identified by the IOM, is the shortages of RNs which is a major problem as compared to population demand (Basichealthaccess.blogspot.co.ke, 2017). The institutions that were initially discriminative against the blacks to enroll for the medical course are now experiencing shortages of professionals to fill the gap. Following the ruling of the Simkins case that all citizens were allowed to enroll in institutions has not made a big difference in decreasing the health inequalities. The nurses and physicians are never treated equally and therefore most of these challenges have found a way in the healthcare thus affecting primary care delivery.

Another inequality addressed by this blog is inadequate primary care revenue to facilitate delivery of healthcare systems (Basichealthaccess.blogspot.co.ke, 2017). According to the Simkins case, this revenue was only set aside for the whites, and following a ruling to ensure equality, there is little support which has created barriers to health access and poor healthcare quality. From the blog, the inequalities have moved away from being racially profiled to population-based that has affected the entire population both the minority and the majority groups. The IOM has a role to play in reducing the healthcare inequalities and specifically those affecting the primary care such as nurse and physician shortages and funding of the American health.

Part II

Explain how enterprise risk management is or is not different from basic risk management and give examples of each and how to negate the risk.

Enterprise risk management is different from basic risk management. From the literature, a basic risk management involves minimizing the potential risks through the application of available resources. Enterprise risk management (ERM) is intensive and requires depth evaluation of potential risks. According to Pekkinen and Aaltonen, 2015, enterprise risk management requires strategic identification of risk through integrated networks that allows managers to collect perceived information regarding the probable risks. Healthcare is one of the enterprises that apply strategic risk management tools. The healthcare setting as an enterprise has various departments that are exposed to different types of risks, and they end up affecting the population. In the healthcare, a complex network is required to set up a strategic risk management. An example of this situation is observed when the laboratory as department decides to reduce medical errors through proper labeling without involving the nurses. The laboratory risk management strategy will require some revisions, therefore, to enhance patient safety across all the other departments in the facility. As compared to basic risk management, a complex risk management in the healthcare will apply a centralized networking to enhance communication between collaborating departments (Curtin, 2011).

Risk management, as perceived in the healthcare, it is based on improving patient safety. Unlike the basic risk management, patient safety requires coordination within the practice which makes it a process and not an intervention as seen in basic risk management. Risk management concerning patient safety is one of the key strategies that have been given priority in the healthcare setting (Curtin, 2011). Patient safety is, therefore, a process of ensuring there are minimum medical errors and it involves many stakeholders. For example, improving the delivery of services, an evidence-based project has to be implemented that may involve external agencies to facilitate implementation of the new practice. According to Bromiley, McShane, Nair, & Rustambekov, (2015), ERM firms or organization should address all their risks comprehensively and coherently instead of handling them individually. ERM has been described as a process that begins with assessment, evaluation, management, and lasting putting up measures to prevent the risk. In basic risk management, this process is never followed thus leaving the enterprise exposed to some risks. One of the key elements of ERM is centralized risk management that brings all risks under one care. For instance, the healthcare is vulnerable to many risks that affect the patient outcome thus calling for an inclusive and intensive risk assessment.

Enterprise risks have a common characteristic whereby one can lead to the other making it a cycle. In ERM the application of risk management tools requires coordination and application of multiple disciplines that work together to manage future uncertainty (Bromiley et al., 2015). Considering that ERM is more intensive than the basic risk management, there are barriers to this approach, and therefore managers must use all effective means to ensure a comprehensive risk identification and prevention strategies. The healthcare facilities are, therefore required to apply measures and strategies of ERM to mitigate risks that may affect the overall performance of the facility. Concerning the goal of risk management, patient safety remains the key goal, and therefore multiple disciplines should be used for effective risk management system (Slideshare.net, 2017).

References

Basichealthaccess.blogspot.co.ke. (2017). Is the Institutes of Medicine Waking Up?. [online] Available at: http://basichealthaccess.blogspot.co.ke/2013/02/is-institutes-of-medicine-waking-up.html [Accessed 14 Nov. 2017].

Bromiley, P., McShane, M., Nair, A., & Rustambekov, E. (January 01, 2015). Enterprise Risk Management: Review, Critique, and Research Directions. Long Range Planning, 48, 4, 265-276.

Curtin, M.A. (2011) Quality Improvement, Patient Safety & Efficiency in Outpatient Practice. Chapter 4, pages 41 to 57.

Pekkinen, L. and Aaltonen, K. (2015) Risk Management in Project Networks: An Information Processing View. Technology and Investment, 6, 52-62.

Reynolds, P. P. (May 01, 2004). Professional and Hospital DISC...