Health care providers are professionals within the health care business. They are doctors, nurses, therapists and others. Who qualifies as a health care provider defines who is entitled to protection of the Medical Malpractice law. These are critical terms.
Health Care Providers Scope
A clinical psychologist is a health care provider. In addition a podiatrist is a health care provider. Also chiropractors are health care providers. The Virginia Medical Malpractice Act sets a cap on how much a health care provider can be made to pay in a civil suit. That is a huge protection. However that protection hinges on whether the person is a health care provider.
Health Care Providers Duty of Confidentiality
In addition health care providers are covered by the HIPPA statute. This is a U.S. statute that provides certain protections to patients. Also Virginia has certain laws to protect patient info. These laws preclude the provider from disclosing info to unauthorized persons. In other words the patient must authorize the disclosure of any health care info.
Health Care Providers Standard of Care
Health care providers in Virginia are held to a standard of reasonable care. They are not required to be perfect. In other words a bad result from treatment does not mean that the provider violated the standard of care. That standard may be obvious in some cases. In most cases it is proven through expert testimony. That expert states what the standard is. In addition the expert states the standard was breached. Also that the breach caused the injury claimed.
For more info about medical malpractice concepts see the other pages on this site. Also see the pages on Wikipedia.
