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Addressing Gaps in Health Care Sector Legal Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2013

Montrece McNeill Ransom ,
Richard A. Goodman  and
Anthony D. Moulton
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Abstract

Health care providers and their legal counsel play pivotal roles in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies. Lawyers representing hospitals, health systems, and other health care provider components are being called upon to answer complex legal questions regarding public health preparedness issues that most providers have not previously faced. Many of these issues are legal issues with which public health officials should be familiar, and that can serve as a starting point for cross-sector legal preparedness planning involving both the public health and health care communities. This article examines legal issues that health care providers face in preparing for public health emergencies, and steps that providers, their legal counsel, and others can take to address those issues and to strengthen community preparedness. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2008;2:50–56)

Keywords

health care providerspublic health preparednesslegal issuespublic health emergenciespublic health law
Type
Original Research and Critical Analysis
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , March 2008 , pp. 50 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2008

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