Ethics 4D - When Insurance and State Contracts Are Paying the Bill – The Ethics of Treatment Documentation and Other Ethical Dilemmas in Today’s World.

$28.00 - Four (4) Credit Hour Ethics CEUs for Professional Counselors, MFTs, Social Workers, Substance Abuse Counselors, and other behavioral health practitioners in ALMOST EVERY STATE.

Ethics 4D is a fast-paced SLIDESHOW with content that's easy to understand and never boring - regarding the ETHICAL DILEMMAS (and PRESSURES) encountered on a daily basis by those whose clients' fees are paid by insurance, managed care, or closely monitored state or local contracts.

Ethics 4D contains the same core material as the 3 credit-hour Ethics Course 3D, except that 4D includes additional material regarding these ethical issues. [Want to watch a short Ethics COURSE DEMO, with material from Ethics 4D and 3D? Click the Ethics Course Preview here.]

The first part of the course is a close-up view of that sticky issue ... what to write (and not write) in a client's treatment record, from an ETHICS perspective, in this new era of tightly controlled health care. How much do you divulge about your assessment of the client's diagnosis, his prognosis, his functional status, and his response to treatment? What's ETHICAL - when the payor is demanding details? What's NECESSARY?

In Ethics 4D we ALSO take a look at such ethical questions as the contract manager's focus upon YOUR effectiveness in the treatment process - i.e., is your approach to treatment effective (or not)? Is such scrutiny legitimate and ethical, or is it an invasion of your (and your client's) privacy? And is it ethical to provide the requested information? And .... does this emphasis upon YOUR EFFECTIVENESS have anything to do with your own ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY, as required by your license standards? ?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Understand the ETHICAL AND PRACTICAL impact of CARE MANAGEMENT upon WHO gets treatment, WHAT treatments they may receive, and HOW MUCH of each treatment is allowed.

2. Identify the new ETHICAL ISSUES faced by providers as a function of this new approach to authorization - i.e., JUSTIFYING and DELIVERING treatment services to our clients within this environment, and DOCUMENTING the ASSESSMENT, DIAGNOSIS, and RESPONSE TO TREATMENT.

3. Learn HOW we can ETHICALLY accommodate these new treatment and documentation requirements, while simultaneously meeting the requirements of our Provider Agreements.

4. Identify additional ETHICAL DILEMMAS encountered in treatment of mental health and substance abuse clients, including the ethics of the Quality Management - Treatment Effectiveness scrutiny which HMOs and other such contract managers place upon the work we do. Is it ETHICAL activity, or is it invasive?

Ethics 3D - When Insurance and State Contracts Are Paying the Bill – The Ethics of Treatment Documentation in Today’s World.

$24.00 - Three (3) Credit Hour Ethics CEUs for Professional Counselors, MFTs, Social Workers, Substance Abuse Counselors, and other behavioral health practitioners in ALMOST EVERY STATE.

Ethics 3D is a fast-paced SLIDESHOW with content that's easy to understand and never boring - regarding the ETHICAL DILEMMAS (and PRESSURES) encountered on a daily basis by those whose clients' fees are paid by insurance, managed care, or closely monitored state or local contracts.

NOTE: Ethics 3D contains the same core material as the 4 credit-hour Ethics Course 4D, except that 4D includes additional material regarding these ethical issues. [Want to watch a short Ethics COURSE DEMO, with material from Ethics 4D and 3D? Click the Ethics Course Preview here

This course is a close-up view of that sticky issue ... what to write (and not write) in a client's treatment record, from an ETHICS perspective, in this new era of tightly controlled health care. How much do you divulge about your ASSESSMENT of the client's DIAGNOSIS(ES), his prognosis, his functional status, and his response to treatment? What's ETHICAL - when the payor is demanding details? What's NECESSARY?

Is such scrutiny legitimate and ethical, or is it an invasion of your (and your client's) privacy? And is it ethical to provide the requested information? Do your own licensure standards SUPPORT - or OVERRULE - this type of documentation of a client's treatment information?

SUMMARY OF GOALS:

1. Understand the ETHICAL AND PRACTICAL impact of CARE MANAGEMENT upon WHO gets treatment, WHAT treatments they may receive, and HOW MUCH of each treatment is allowed.

2. Identify the ETHICAL ISSUES faced by providers due to this new approach to authorization - in both the delivery of treatment services AND in the DOCUMENTATION of the ASSESSMENT, DIAGNOSIS, and TREATMENT RESPONSE.

3. Learn how we can ETHICALLY accommodate these new treatment and documentation requirements, while simultaneously meeting the requirements of our Provider Agreements.

Ethics 2D - Advance Directives: Assisting with Plans for End of Life Care

$18 [2 Credit Hours] - This 2-credit hour ETHICS and COUNSELING INTERVENTION course is a 'QUIZ ONLY' course. Read and print the study material and the quiz for FREE, study off-line if you like, and take the quiz online. YOU PAY ONLY TO TAKE THE ONLINE QUIZ and to obtain your INSTANTLY DOWNLOADED 2 CEU CERTIFICATE.

The publication is accessed free of charge online, through a link to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) website.

This course - Advance Directives: Assisting with Plans for End of Life Care - awards 2 ETHICS credits, and is also a 2-credit COUNSELING INTERVENTION COURSE. The material is applicable for those who work with the elderly and all ages of seriously ill individuals and their families, in a variety of situations (e.g., burn units, pediatric critical care units, acute care facilities, nursing facilities serving Alzheimer's and stroke patients, outpatient settings which serve those with CHF, renal failure, cancer, AIDS, etc.). Also, those who work with HEALTHY individuals who might need to make End of Life decisions (perhaps due to work in life-threatening situations including MILITARY deployment to war zones or for other reasons).

The AHRQ is an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services. This free internet-accessible publication is authored by Barbara L. Kass-Bartelmes, M.P.H., C.H.E.S., and Ronda Hughes, Ph.D.

NOTE: How is this course different from most of the courses available on the CEU By Net website? Most of the courses on our site are developed by CEU By Net, and you pay your fee to access the in-house course materials and the quiz. However, this is a 'QUIZ ONLY' course. The material for this course - and the quiz which we have developed to assess mastery of the materials - may be accessed FOR FREE on the internet, by clicking a link on our site. After reviewing the materials free of charge, you may pay the fee to take our online quiz and obtain your instant-download certificate. [We suggest that you print a copy of the quiz and mark your answers as you read through the materials. Then, click the 'SIGN UP NOW' button in the catalog, pay your fee, and take the online quiz. You can transfer your answers from the previously printed copy of the quiz, to the online quiz, if you like.]

For some additional information about the materials - and to READ the online article and to PREVIEW AND PRINT a copy of the online quiz - JUST CLICK THE + SIGN BELOW THIS SUMMARY.


GOALS OF THIS COURSE:

1. Learn terms that should be understood related to individuals' LEGAL RIGHT to make End of Life Care Decisions.

2. Awareness of the research-verified need for more effective Advance Directives (end of life care planning), and differentiation between the categories of individuals for whom Advance Directives are an issue.

3. Understanding of the BENEFITS of addressing end of life preferences with persons who are terminally ill or are in a life threatening situation, as well as with their surrogates (family or representatives).

4. Learn a five-part, research-supported PROCESS for structuring discussions about end-of-life preferences, which inherently supports our ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY for assuring the welfare and legal rights of the client.

5. Based upon research findings, understand the FACTORS which typically affect individuals' choices about End of Life Care in various situations - thus enhancing ability to ETHICALLY GUIDE DISCUSSIONS about end of life care.

Note: This course contains a link to study material available on the internet, rather than study guides on this web site. You may STUDY THIS COURSE and the quiz AT NO CHARGE. When you have studied the material and reviewed the quiz, you can come back to this site to take the quiz ONLINE and instantly receive your course completion certificate! For more information on this course - and to see a PREVIEW of the online quiz - click the '+' symbols, below:

Ethics 2D - Advance Directives: Assisting with Plans for End of Life Care

The AHRQ includes this document in its search list of publications which deal with the ETHICS of healthcare, and states that, "This research can help providers offer end-of-life care based on preferences held by the majority of patients under similar circumstances." CEU By Net has included this material in our ETHICS section because helping patients and families to make choices regarding END OF LIFE CARE is a potentially vulnerable area of PROFESSIONAL ETHICALITY. Such activity falls within the area of Professional Ethics generally referred to as CLIENT WELFARE .... including the elements of 'Acting in the Best Interest of the Client' and 'Informed Consent'. These activities also involve PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES, in terms of differentiating between our desires for a client at the end of life, and the client's own preferences. Materials such as this study published by the AHRQ also serve to enhance and support Professional Competence and SCOPE OF PRACTICE, for those who have responsibilities involving Advance Directives. The information contained herein serves as a ‘KNOWLEDGE FRAMEWORK’ for behavioral health practitioners in the area of assisting their clients/patients with ADVANCE DIRECTIVES or LIVING WILLS. Such research-based knowledge is important to ensure that we understand ETHICALLY APPROPRIATE ways to assist clients and family members or representatives with this important activity. Such knowledge also helps to protect practitioners from being the focus of disciplinary action and legal complications. This research study and resulting clinical guidelines focus upon how health care professionals can assess the preferences of their clients/patients for end of life care, and can assist them THROUGH GUIDED DISCUSSIONS to make their desires and plans known through a Living Will or Advance Directive. Clients/Patients may be residents of nursing facilities, hospitals, hospice, or any other location where end of life is an issue - including those still living at home who have chronic diseases such as cancer and AIDS, where there is considerable uncertainty about when death is likely to occur. The materials help to differentiate between the categories of individuals for whom Advance Directives are an issue, and the differences in approach depending upon the situation, e.g., AIDS vs Cancer vs Stroke vs. Alzheimer's, etc.. EDITORIAL COMMENTS: CEU By Net believes that Advance Directives are logically a subject of discussion with individuals who are members of the armed services, in high risk battlefield situations. We also know from our own experiences, that many or most of the discussion-related tasks that are mentioned in this research study as being "performed by the physician", are IN FACT PERFORMED BY a Social Worker, a Substance Abuse Professional (particularly working with AIDS patients), Chaplin, Pastoral Counselor or other Professional Counselor. And indeed, the authors state that the physician may wish to refer the patient to a social worker or clergy or other educational sources, to discuss his or her concerns and questions. REVIEW OF THE FOCUS AND GOALS FOR STUDY OF THIS MATERIAL: 1. Learn terms that should be understood related to individuals' LEGAL RIGHT to make End of Life Care Decisions. 2. Awareness of the research-verified need for more effective Advance Directives (end of life care planning), and differentiation between the categories of individuals for whom Advance Directives are an issue. 3. Understanding of the BENEFITS of addressing end of life preferences with persons who are terminally ill or are in a life threatening situation, as well as with their surrogates (family or representatives). 4. Learn a five-part, research-supported PROCESS for structuring discussions about end-of-life preferences, which inherently supports our ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY for assuring the welfare and legal rights of the client. 5. Based upon research findings, understand the FACTORS which typically affect individuals' choices about End of Life Care in various situations - thus enhancing ability to ETHICALLY GUIDE DISCUSSIONS of end of life care. This publication is dated 2003. However, the AHRQ considers this document to be nevertheless highly relevant to the subject at hand, when compared to other documents available within their research library and available elsewhere on the internet. This article is listed 3rd on the list of 261 AHRQ publications on this topic, and the last date that it was reviewed and cataloged was on May 6, 2010. Click here to view this study material. Click here to view and print the quiz you will take for this material.