Although she enjoyed her days as a courtroom litigator, Magid finds that teaching business law combines the characteristics she likes most about being a lawyer.
“To be an effective litigator, you must be able to think through different options and different ways to view a problem,” Magid explains. “My classes teach how to make business decisions when there are high degrees of ambiguity. I really feel what I teach is not just law; it’s critical thinking skills.”
One area in which physicians commonly face ambiguity is in healthcare ethics. Magid developed a program called “Tense Tales: Storytelling for Ethical Leadership,” which she uses to guide physicians through these thorny issues.
“Healthcare decisions inevitably involve ethical challenges, and physicians need a framework to use in evaluating ethical concerns and building their confidence in responding to them,” she says.
Similar to the way in which a physician diagnoses a patient, legal business decision making requires the consumption of a large amount of information, a prompt analysis, and decisive plan of action, Magid says. Her courses teach how to think critically about the impact of a business decision.
Business law has many roles in the healthcare field. Among them are employment and organizational contracts, legal issues around partnerships, and managing employees and intellectual property.
“There are many legal considerations in a healthcare practice,” Magid explains. “From healthcare conflicts of interest to clinical integration, physicians need a basic understanding of the business legal parameters in which these issues are couched.”
As healthcare professionals face a growing number of legal challenges including interpretation of new healthcare laws, Magid says a strong foundation of business law understanding will be essential.
“Healthcare is a highly regulated environment and professionals need to understand not only the applicable regulations but also the legal grounding for these regulations,” says Magid. “Having a critical understanding of business law will allow physicians to create a better healthcare environment.”
