CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW IN HEALTH CARE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW IN HEALTH CARE - Essay Example Consequently, healthcare contracts ensure that parties are informed of their rights and obligations, and provide remedies for breach by one or more parties to an agreement. It also clarifies parties’ intentions and can be used for future references to resolve misunderstandings among parties to it (Pozgar, 2012). It defines an agreement by parties to establish, and be bound by their specified terms. Express contracts can be oral or written and written contracts override oral contracts (Simmers, Nartker and Kobelak, 2008). This is a contract in which one of the parties can relinquish his or her obligations because of lack of some of the essentials of a contract. The type of contract however, remains valid until it is revoked (Pozgar, 2012). Other types of a contract are defined in terms of nature of involved subject matter such as contracts for reality defining contracts that involve â€Å"real estate and interest in real estate,† contracts for goods involving â€Å"movable objects with exception of money and securities,† and contract for services involving human efforts (Pozgar, 2012, p. 87). Essential elements of a valid a contract in healthcare are agreement, which defines offer and acceptance, and consideration. An offer refers to a promise by a party or parties to undertake acts, of commission or omission, on provision that the other party or parties will undertake specified acts of either omission or commission. An offer is only valid when the ‘offeror’ intends to be bound by the terms. Acceptance however defines a party’s consent, subject to legal provisions, to be bound by the terms of offer. It must involve â€Å"mutual consent,† be â€Å"definite and complete,† be made before the offer is revoked or within a reasonable period, and must be â€Å"complete and confirming† (Pozgar, 2012, p. 87). Another element of healthcare contract, consideration,