|
CHIROPRACTIC CODE OF PROFESSIONAL
ETHICS
Preamble
These Canon's of Professional Ethics
are based upon fundamental principles of ethics and
professional behavior imposed upon all chiropractors
including chiropractors and assistants who may not be
engaged in active practice. The following general purposes
and objectives should be considered first and foremost.
- Consider the well-being of the patient.
The ultimate goal and primary effort should be "The
greatest good for the patient".
- Honor your profession, its history
and traditions.
- Respect your patients rights of
confidentiality in the doctor-patient relationship.
- Recognize chiropractic's scope of
practice and acknowledge the special skills of other
health care personnel in prevention and treatment
of disease.
- Professional responsibility, integrity
and competence should be your guiding tenets.
The scope of this chiropractic Code
of Ethics comprises practitioners' duties and obligations
to their patients, the public and each other. A code
of ethics has been part and parcel of chiropractic since
its inception and chiropractors should act within these
general principles which have governed chiropractic
practice through the years.
The ethical foundations upon which these
principles are based are those established moral obligations
insuring the dignity and integrity of the profession.
The objective of this formal code is to clearly define
the obligations and duties incumbent upon each and every
chiropractor.
The first and foremost duty of every
chiropractor is to abide by Federal, State, Provincial,
and local statutes establishing the privileges of practicing
chiropractic as well as the basic moral obligations
imposed by this code of ethics.
I. Duties, Obligations
and Responsibilities of Chiropractors to Their Patients
The overriding primary and ultimate
objective of these guiding principles will be for chiropractic
to render the greatest service and care to humankind
possible.
Principle IA. Availability
and Accessibility
- Chiropractors should make themselves
available but more importantly accessible to the call
of ill patients who are in need of their professional
services. A chiropractor shall to the best of his/her
abilities and immediate circumstantial limitations,
render all possible assistance to any patient(s) in
emergent health care situations. A chiropractor, excepting
an emergent situation shall have the right of accepting
or rejecting a particular patient. Chiropractors should
realize the tremendous responsibilities their vocation
imposes upon them and should conduct themselves accordingly
to obtain the confidence and respect of the patient.
Principle IB. Confidentiality
- A chiropractor is obligated and bound
to obtain the trust and retain the confidence of each
and every patient and patient's family in the discharge
of his/her professional duties. Doctors of chiropractic
should preserve, protect and defend patient confidences
and records. Occasional exception to this principle
arises when society imposes a higher moral law requiring
disclosure or when a patient consents to disclosure
such as when a chiropractor is performing a service
for his/her patient in the submission of information
to third party payers, responsible relatives and/or
guardians. Chiropractors,' unless directed by the
patient or legal guardian should not discuss a patient's
history, examination, symptoms, diagnosis or treatment
with anyone.
The patient may expect the following
basic considerations from a doctor of chiropractic in
the conduct of their care regarding confidentiality.
Confidentiality
Chiropractors are encouraged to have
the utmost respect and regard for the patient's privacy
as outlined in this policy on confidentiality and as
asserted by the entire Code of Chiropractic Professional
Ethics.
- Providers shall not discuss patient
information with one patient about another patient,
or with an employee.
- Providers shall not discuss any
patient information with relatives or friends of the
patient without written patient consent.
- Providers shall not discuss any
patient information with visitors to the office or
hospital without written patient consent.
- Patient information should not under
any circumstances be discussed with the news media
without patient consent.
- Providers should not discuss patient
information with other employees, except in conference
and/or consultation. Discussion about patients should
be avoided in any patient areas. Always be mindful
of the patients privacy, when consulting another chiropractor
or health care provider keep volumes low.
- Do not discuss patient information
with your own relatives or friends outside the office
or hospital.
- Do not discuss any patient information
over the telephone with anyone without the patient's
written consent.
Confidentiality of Medical/Health
Care Records
The Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) stipulates the following
minimum standards in regard to assessing hospital accreditation
compliance with medical records taking and confidentiality
of the information contained therein. The New York State
Chiropractic Association endorse these standards in
principle.
- Medical records are confidential,
secure, current, authenticated, legible, and complete.
- The medical record is the property
of the hospital/office and is maintained for the benefit
of the patient, the medical/healthcare staff, and
the hospital or office.
- The hospital or office is responsible
for safeguarding both the records and its informational
content against loss, defacement, and tampering and
from use by unauthorized individuals.
- Written consent of the patient or
his legally qualified representative is required for
the release of medical information to persons not
otherwise authorized to receive the information.
- Where certain portions of the medical
record are so confidential that extraordinary means
are necessary to preserve their privacy, such as in
the treatment of some psychiatric disorders, these
portions may be stored separately, provided the complete
record is readily available when required for current
medical care or follow-up, review functions, or use
in quality assurance activities.
Principle IC. Limits
of Chiropractic Care
- Chiropractors shall assume the highest
standards of moral conduct. Absolute honesty and integrity
should characterize all transactions with his/her
patients and the public they serve.
- A chiropractor shall endeavor to
attend to his/her patients as often as they might
consider necessary to ensure the well-being of their
patients, and their continued favorable progress,
however, chiropractors shall strive to scrupulously
avoid unnecessary treatment and care and therefore
shall eschew practice building and management strategies
that advocate contractual patient care.
- Chiropractors shall neither exaggerate
nor minimize the gravity of a patient's condition,
nor offer any false hope or prognosis. It is also
the chiropractor's duty to acquaint some judicious
friend or relative of the patient with the actual
facts of a particular care when a patient appears
incapable of caring for themselves.
- Once committed to serving a patient,
doctors of chiropractic shall endeavor to avoid neglecting
a patient. Reasonable care should be taken to protect
the patients welfare. Chiropractors should not terminate
their professional services without due notice allowing
patients reasonable time to obtain professional or
alternative services elsewhere and giving to their
discharged patients papers and documents as necessary
in compliance with these ethical canons.
- Doctors of Chiropractic owe their
patients loyalty, compassion and respect. Chiropractic
clinical judgment and practice should be as objective
as possible and exercised solely for the patient's
benefit.
Principle ID. Release
of Confidential Patient Records
- Chiropractors shall comply with
a patient's written authorization to provide records,
copies of records to individuals the patient designates
as authorized to inspect or receive all or part of
said records. Further, chiropractors shall abide by
the general standards for patient record confidentiality
and release promulgated by the American Medical Records
Association as put forth below. Reasonable charges
may be assessed of the patient for the cost of duplicating
records.
The following statements are given in
the position statements of the American Medical Records
Association, and are also endorsed by the New York State
Chiropractic Association and henceforth part of the
NYSCA Code of Professional Ethics.
- All requests for health records
or health information shall be referred to the health
record department.
- Release of health information to
the patient shall be carried out in accordance with
all applicable legal requirements and written institutional
policy. A properly completed and signed authorization
is required.
- Subject only to specific contraindications
described below, and to any legal constraints such
as those governing minors and those adjudicated as
incomplete, a patient or his representative may have
access to his own health record for review, upon written
request with reasonable notice. A patient may have
access to records of his care during or after discharge
from treatment. A copy of the requested health information
will be provided after completion and upon written
request by the patient and payment of a reasonable
fee.
- The health care provider is not
required to permit the patient access to his [her]
health record if the provider reasonably concludes
that:
- Knowledge of the health care
information would be injurious to the health of
the patient, or
- Knowledge of the health care
information could reasonably be expected to cause
danger to the life or
safety of any person.
- If the health care provider denies
a patient's request to see or copy, in whole or in
part, his health record based on the above grounds,
the provider must either:
- Provide a summary of the health
record, according to the requirements of this
section. If the health care provider chooses to
prepare such a summary of the record rather than
allow access to the entire record, he or she shall
make such a summary of the records available to
the patient within ten (10) working days from
the date of the patient's request. However, if
more time is needed because the record is extraordinary
in length or because the patient was discharged
from a licensed health facility within the last
ten (10) days, the health care provider shall
notify the patient of this fact and the date that
the summary will be completed, but in no case
shall more than thirty (30) days elapse between
the request by the patient and the delivery of
the summary. In preparing the summary of the record,
the health care provider shall not be obligated
to include information which is not contained
in the original record; or
- the provider must permit inspection
by, or provide copies of, the health record to
another health care practitioner who is licensed
to treat the same condition as the health care
provider and who has been so designated, in writing,
by the patient. The health care provider shall
inform the patient of the provider's refusal to
permit him or her to inspect or obtain copies
of the requested records, and inform the patient
of the right to require the provider to permit
inspection by, or provide copies to, another health
care practitioner who is licensed to treat the
same condition as the health care provider and
who has been so designated, in writing, by the
patient.
- In either event, the health care
provider shall make a written record, to be included
with the health records requested, noting the date
of the request and explaining the health care provider's
reason for refusing to permit inspection or provide
copies thereof, including a description of the specific
adverse or detrimental consequences to the patient
which the provider anticipates would occur if inspection
or copying were permitted.
- In the event that the patient wishes
to correct data, it shall be done as an amendment,
without change to the original entry, and shall be
clearly identified as an additional document appended
to the original health record at the direction of
the patient. This document shall then be regarded
as an integral part of the health record. Upon request
of the patient, the provider will furnish copies of
the amendment to any person to whom the disputed information
has been properly released. Whenever health information
is request subsequent to the amendment, the copy sent
shall include the amendment.
- The provider will make these policies
known to patients upon request.
- Following authorized release of
patient information, the signed authorization will
be retained in the health record with notation of
the specific information released, the date of release
and the signature of the individual who released the
information.
Release of Primary
Records
- All requests for health records of
health information, including requests for information
on patients currently under treatment, shall be directed
to the health record department or office manager.
- Release of information from the
health record shall be carried out in accordance with
all applicable legal, accrediting, and regulatory
agency requirements, and in accordance with written
institutional policy.
- All information contained in the
health record is confidential and the release of information
will be closely controlled. A properly completed and
signed authorization is required for release of all
health information except:
- As required by law
- For release to another health
care provider currently involved in the care of
the patient
- For medical care evaluation;
or
- For research and education in
accordance with conditions specified below
- In keeping with the tenet of informed
consent, a properly completed and signed authorization
to release patient information shall include at least
the following data:
- Name of institution that is to
release the information
- Name of the individual or institution
that is to receive the information
- Patient's full name, address
and date of birth
- Purpose or need for information
- Extent or nature of information
to be released, with inclusive dates of treatment
(Note: An authorization specifying "any and
all information..." shall be honored)
- Specific date, event or condition
upon which authorization will expire unless revoked
earlier
- Statement that authorization
can be revoked but not retroactive to the release
of information made in good faith
- Date that consent is signed (Note:
Date of signature must be later than the date
of information to be released), and
- Signature of patient or legal
representative (Note: In the case of treatment
given a minor without parental knowledge, the
institution shall refrain from releasing the portion
of the record relevant to this episode of care
when responding to a request for information for
which the signed authorization is that of the
parent or guardian. An authorization by the minor
shall be required in this instance.
- Information released to authorized
individuals/agencies shall be strictly limited to
that information required to fulfill the purpose stated
on the authorization. Authorizations specifying "any
and all information..." or other such broadly
inclusive statements shall not be honored. Release
of information that is not essential to the stated
purpose of the request is specifically prohibited.
- Following authorized release of
patient information, the signed authorization will
be retained in the health record with notation of
the specific information released, date of release
and signature of the individual who released the information.
- Health records shall be available
for use within the facility for direct patient care
by all authorized personnel as specified by the chief
executive officer or office manager, and documented
in a policy manual.
- Direct access to health records
for routine administrative functions, including billing,
shall not be permitted, except where the employees
are instructed in policies on confidentiality and
subject to penalties arising from violation.
- Health records shall be available,
in the health record department, to authorized students
enrolled in educational programs affiliated with the
institution. Students must present proper identification
and written permission of the instructor with their
request. Data compiled in educational studies may
not include patient identity or other information
which could identify the patient.
- Health records shall be made available
for research to individuals who have obtained approval
for their research projects from an institutional
review board or appropriate medical staff committee,
administrator or other designated authority. Research
projects which involve use of health records shall
be conducted in accordance with institutional policies
on the use of health records for research. Any research
project which involves contact of the patient by the
researcher must have written permission of the patient's
attending physician, and/or by the chief executive
officer of the facility or his designee, prior to
contact. An institutional policy on use of medical
records in research should guide these activities.
- If facsimiles of health records
are provided to authorized internal users, the same
controls will be applied for return of these facsimiles
as for return of the original health record. Wherever
possible, internal users will be encouraged to use
the original health record rather than to obtain a
facsimile.
- The names, addresses, dates of admission
or discharge of patients shall not be released to
the new media or commercial organization without the
express written consent of the patient or his authorized
agent.
- Requests for health information
received via telephone will require proper identification
and verification to assure that the requesting party
is entitled to receive such information. A record
of the request and information released will be kept.
Principle IE. Patients Bill of Rights
Within the Health Care Setting
The basic rights of human beings for
independence of expression, decisions and action and
concern for personal dignity and human relationships
are always of great importance.
A patient should expect and shall receive
the following rights imposed upon chiropractors engendered
with the responsibility of delivering chiropractic care.
These rights are enumerated in the chiropractic Code
of Ethics and shall be transmitted to the patient.
- Chiropractors shall accord the patient
impartial access to treatment without regard to race,
sex; cultural, national, or ethnic origins; economic,
educational, religious or political affiliation or
the source of payment for his/her care.
- Chiropractic care shall always and
everywhere be considerate toward the patient and respectful
of the patient's personal dignity.
- The patient can expect to be interviewed
and examined in surrounding designed to assure reasonable
visual and auditory privacy. This includes the right
to have a person of one's own gender present during
certain portions of a physical examination, performed
by a health professional of the opposite sex and the
right not to remain disrobed any longer than is required
for accomplishing the health care purpose for which
the patient was asked to disrobe.
- The patient should have known the
identity and professional status of individuals providing
service to him/her and to know which has primary responsibility
for coordinating his/her care and the names and professional
relationships of other physicians who will also be
responsible for his/her care. This includes the right
to know of the existence of any professional relationship
among individuals who are treating him/her as well
as the relationship to any other health care or educational
institution involved in his/her care.
- The patient can expect to receive
information from the chiropractor/physician coordinating
his/her care and current information concerning the
diagnosis, prognosis and the planned course of treatment
in terms that they are able to understand. When it
is not medically advisable to give such information
to the patient, the information should be made available
to a legally authorized representative of the individual.
- The patient is entitled to receive
as much information about proposed treatments or procedures
as he/she may need in order to grant or refuse to
give consent to any procedure(s), treatment(s) or
course of action. Other than emergent situations,
the information given to the patient shall include
a description of the procedures or treatment, the
significant health risks involved in this treatment,
alternative course of treatments or nontreatment and
the attendant risks involved with each. The patient
is also entitled knowledge of the person(s) responsible
for authorizing or carrying out any procedures or
treatments.
- The patient can expect to participate
actively in any and all decisions regarding his/her
treatment and care. To the extent permissible by applicable
law, this will include the right to refuse treatment
and is entitled to be informed of any adverse consequences
of his/her decision. When refusal of treatment by
the patient or legally authorized representative prevents
the provision of appropriate care in accordance with
professional standards, the relationship with the
patient may be terminated upon reasonable notice.
- The patient has the right to reasonably
informed participation in decisions involving his/her
health care. To the degree possible, this should be
prefaced upon clear, concise explanation of his/her
condition, all proposed technical procedures, including
any possible risk (see informed consent) of mortality
or serious side effects, problems related to recuperation
and probability of success. The patient should not
be subjected to any procedure(s) without voluntary,
competent, and understanding consent or that consent
of his/her legally authorized representative. Where
medically significant alternatives for care or treatment
exist, the patient shall be so informed.
- The patient shall receive full consideration
of privacy concerning his/her health care program.
Case discussion, consultation, examination and treatment
are confidential and should be conducted discretely
and individuals not directly involved in his/her care
will not be present without his permission. The patient
has the right to be advised of the presence of any
individuals and the reason for their presence.
- The patient is entitled to confidential
treatment of all communications and records pertaining
to his/her care. To have his/her health care record
read only by individuals directly involved in his/her
treatment or in monitoring of its quality and by other
individuals only on his/her written authorization
or that of his legally authorized representative.
Written permission shall be obtained before any health
care records can be made available to anyone not directly
concerned with the patient's care. The patient may
also refuse to talk with or see anyone not officially
connected with the hospital or private office, including
visitors.
- The patient can expect that all
communications and other records pertaining to his/her
care, including the source of payment for treatment,
to be treated as confidential information.
- The patient shall receive reasonable
responses from any and all providers to any reasonable
request he/she may make for service.
- The patient shall be permitted to
leave or otherwise voluntarily be discharged from
chiropractic care even against the best advice of
the attending chiropractor.
- Patients can expect reasonable continuity
of care. They shall be informed in advance of the
time(s) and location(s) of appointments as well as
the name and capacity of the chiropractor that will
be providing care.
- Patients will be advised if chiropractors
and/or other attending physicians or other concomitant
health care personnel propose to engage in or otherwise
perform human experimentation affecting his/her care
or treatment. The patient has the privilege and right
of refusing to participate in any research projects.
Participation by patient in clinical training programs
or in the gathering of data for research purposes
should always and everywhere be voluntary.
- The patient shall be informed by
his/her chiropractor or a delegate of the chiropractor
of continuing health care requirements following discharge
from care in the out-patient or in-patient setting.
- The patient shall have upon request,
the right and courtesy of receiving an itemized, detailed
and thorough explanation of his/her total charges
billed for services rendered regardless of the source
of payment. The patient has the right to timely notice
prior to termination of his/her eligibility for reimbursement
by any third-party payer for the cost of his/her care,
if and when the doctor is notified by the third party
payer.
- The patient shall be advised of
his/her rights and shall be instructed as to the rules
and policies which apply to his/her conduct as a patient
in the out-patient and/or in-patient setting.
- The patient shall have all their
rights also applied to the person or persons who may
assume the legal responsibility to make decisions
on the patient's behalf regarding the care of the
patient should the patient be a legal minor or otherwise
incapacitated.
- The patient has the right to expect
reasonable safety insofar as the health care environment
is concerned.
- The patient at his/her own request
and expense has the right to consult with any other
health care provider.
- The patient should be informed of
the office/practitioner rules and regulations applicable
to his/her conduct as a patient prior to the commencement
of any care or treatment procedures.
No catalog of rights can guarantee for
the patient the kind of treatment he/she has a right
to expect. Physicians, chiropractors, hospitals and
offices have many functions to perform, including the
prevention and treatment of disease, the education of
other health professionals and patients, and the conduct
of clinical research. All these activities must be conducted
with an overriding concern for the patient, and, above
all, the recognition of his/her dignity as a human being.
Success in achieving this recognition assures success
in the defense of the rights of the patient.
Patient Responsibilities
- Provision of Information
A patient has the responsibility
to provide, to the best of his knowledge, accurate
and complete information about present complaints,
past illnesses, hospitalizations, medications, and
other matters relating to his/her health. He has the
responsibility to report unexpected changes in his
condition to the responsible practitioner. A patient
is responsible for making it known whether he clearly
comprehends a contemplated course of action and what
is expected of him/her.
- Compliance with Instruction
A patient is responsible for following
the treatment plan recommended by the practitioner
primarily responsible for his/her care. This may include
following the instructions of nurses and allied health
personnel as they carry out the coordinated plan of
care and implement the responsible practitioner's
orders, and as they enforce the applicable hospital
rules and regulations. The patient is responsible
for keeping appointments and, when he is unable to
do so for any reason, for notifying the responsible
practitioner or office.
- Refusal of Treatment
The patient is responsible
for his actions if he refuses treatment or does not
follow the practitioner's instructions.
- Charges
The patient is responsible
for assuring that the financial obligations of his/her
health care are fulfilled as promptly as possible.
- Health Care Rules and Regulations
The patient is responsible
for following office rules and regulations affecting
patient care and conduct.
- Respect and Consideration
The patient is responsible
for being considerate of the rights of other patients
and for assisting in the control of noise, smoking,
and the care and control of infants and children.
The patient is also responsible for being respectful
of the property of other persons and of the offices
and environment in which care was rendered.
References:
- AHA Patient's Bill of Rights, American
Hospital Association, Chicago, Illinois
- AMH/87: Accreditation Manual for
Hospitals, Joint Commission on Accreditation for Hospitals,
875 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611,
1986
Principle IF. Informed Consent
A significant amount of malpractice
contended in lawsuits is attributable to the concepts
engendered in Informed Consent. In this regard according
to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations,
"The patient has the right
to reasonable informed participation in decisions
involving his health care. To the degree possible,
this should be based on a clear, concise explanation
of his condition and of all proposed technical procedures,
including the possibilities of any risk of mortality
or serious side effects, problems related to recuperation,
and probability of success. The patient should not
be subjected to any procedures without his voluntary,
competent, and understanding consent or that of his
legally authorized representative. Where medically
significant alternative for care or treatment exist,
the patient shall be so informed."
"The patient has the right to know who is
responsible for authorizing and performing the procedures
or treatment."
"The patient shall be informed if the hospital
proposes to engage in or perform human experimentation
or other research/educational projects affecting his
care or treatment, and the patient has the right to
refuse to participate in any such activity."
(AMH/87 p.xiii)
When a procedure is carried out on a
patient by employees of the hospital, the hospital has
a responsibility to insure that the patient is sufficiently
informed of the events beforehand and that acknowledgement
by permission was obtained from the patient.
There are two basic kinds of consents
with which hospitals and independent "private"
practitioners have to concern themselves. These are
"express" consent and "implied"
consent.
- Express consent is permission granted
by the patient to the provider and or health care
facility in their own words. The consent may be written
or spoken, but written consent is always preferable
to trying to establish verbal consent after an event
has taken place. Written consent nevertheless, is
not iron clad. Several courts have found written consent
insufficient when the patient, even knowledgeable
of the procedures experienced an untoward effect.
In these type instances, written consent absolves
provider of negligence by omission to some degree,
but not by commission.
- Implied consent is that which is
generally inferred by the patients conduct. When a
patient apparently knowingly and voluntarily submits
to a procedure(s), this is considered implied consent
despite the fact that there was no verbal exchange
communicating permission or written consent.
Principle IG. Freedom
of Choice
- Chiropractors shall recognize the
right of patients to select his or her own method
of health care and their desires in this regard shall
be respected. The patient shall have the right to
select the mode of professional care of his or her
choice. Doctors of chiropractic shall also respect
the patients right to change their choice of providers
at will. This may be separate or complimentary to
chiropractic care where cooperation with another provider
may be required and concurrent procedures do not conflict.
- In regard to the chiropractic mode
of care, doctors of chiropractic should insure that
patients possess enough information to enable the
patient to make an informed, intelligent decision
with regard to any proposed chiropractic treatment.
Principle IH. Timely Consultation
- In difficult or protracted cases
consultation(s) with other health care providers are
recommended and advisable and chiropractors shall
be ready to act upon any expressed patients' desires
for a consultation with another chiropractor or provider
even though he/she may not feel the need for consultation.
Doctors of chiropractic shall stand ready to seek
the talents of other health-care providers when a
consultation would benefit their patient.
Principle II. Remuneration
- The health and welfare of the patient
should always be paramount and expectation of remuneration
or lack thereof shall not in any way affect the quality
of service rendered to the patient.
- Doctors of chiropractic are entitled
to receive proper and reasonable compensation for
their professional services commensurate with the
value of his/her personal services rendered compared
to the fees commonly assessed in the community by
other members of their profession based on usual and
customary practices; experience, time, reputation,
the nature of the patient's condition and the patient's
ability to recompense. Chiropractors should be prepared
to discuss their fees with individual patients and
should initiate discussions when fees are expected
to exceed usual and customary charges.
- Chiropractors should support proper
activities designed to enable access to necessary
chiropractic care on behalf of individuals unable
to pay reasonable chiropractic fees or are otherwise
legally destitute.
Principle IJ. Termination
of Patients
- Since patients have the right or
privilege to dismiss providers at will for reasons
satisfactory to him/herself, likewise, chiropractors
may decline to attend patients when professional self-respect
and dignity require this action. Chiropractors are
encouraged to terminate professional doctor-patient
relationships when it becomes reasonably clear that
the patient is not benefitting from it.
- Having accepted a patient or patient(s),
a chiropractor shall never abandon a patient without
due regard for the patients welfare. If a chiropractor
decides to withdraw from a particular case, the patient
or the patient's legal representative shall be given
sufficient notice to secure other provider attendance
if they so desire.
Principle IK. Guarantees
- A chiropractor shall not offer or
guarantee a cure to any patient either verbally or
in writing.
- A chiropractor may give a patient
a reasonable estimate regarding the length of time/number
of visits the may be required to favorably advance
a particular condition. Chiropractors however, should
scrupulously avoid protracted or unnecessary care
without some favorable remission of the patients complaint(s).
Principle IL. Practices
of Questionable Propriety
- Chiropractors shall avoid participation
or assistance in all practices of questionable propriety,
either with his/her patients, colleagues, family or
other business associates.
- Chiropractors shall conduct their
practices in a surrounding which will not compromise
the quality of patient care.
- A chiropractor shall not initiate
or otherwise, knowingly participate in any illegal,
fraudulent actions. They should maintain the highest
standards insuring that his/her conduct in professional
practice is above reproach. Chiropractors will refrain
from any and all legal and morally reprehensible conduct
and will not take physical, emotional or financial
advantage of any patient or the public they serve.
Principle IM. Diagnostic Procedures
- Chiropractors shall recommend and
use only those diagnostic procedures, laboratory and
imaging techniques allowable by applicable state and/or
provincial code, that are in the best interests of
the patient; will assist in the patients' diagnosis
and care, and are necessary for the well-being of
the patient. Furthermore, chiropractors shall recognize
his/her responsibility in advising patients of the
diagnostic findings and any attendant recommendations
therefrom.
- Patients should be adequately prepared
for examination and/or treatment.
Principle IN. Patient Benefits
- A chiropractors shall be required
to assist patients in securing any benefits due the
patient by supplying the information required, if
available, in response to a patient's request for
assistance.
- When acting at the request of a
third or other party, the chiropractor will insure
that the patient understands the chiropractor's legal
responsibility before conducting any examination and/or
treatment procedures.
Principle IO. Equality
- Chiropractors shall recognize the
responsibility of rendering responsible chiropractic
care to any and all individuals regardless of race,
sex; cultural, national or ethnic origins; political
persuasions or ability to recompense.
Principle IP. Practice
Aims
- In all endeavors of professional
practice, chiropractors shall practice with the utmost
courtesy, honesty and highest degree of professional
competence in the proper care of the patients with
due regard and respect for the patient's unequivocal
rights and personal dignity.
- The ultimate end is the "greatest
good for the patient."
II. Duties, Obligations and Responsibilities of Chiropractors
to the Public
Personal and Professional
Conduct
Principle IIA.
Demands upon the profession
- Doctors of chiropractic shall recognize
that as members of a learned profession dedicated
to the promotion of health, the prevention of illness
and the alleviation of suffering, they shall act accordingly
realizing that the public demands of him/her integrity
and dedication to its search for truth in its service
to humankind.
- A chiropractor shall recognize that
self-discipline of the profession is a privilege and
that he/she has a responsibility to merit the retention
and respect of the public for this privilege.
- A chiropractor shall conduct him/herself
in such a manner as to merit the respect of the public
for members of the chiropractic profession
- A chiropractor shall protect his
professional independence by avoiding all situations
which would lead to a conflict of interest.
- Chiropractors who are also public
officers, either elected or appointed, full or part-time,
should not engage in activities which are, or may
be perceived to be, in conflict with their official
duties.
Principle IIB. Observance
of Law and Codes
- Doctors of chiropractic should observe
the appropriate laws, decisions and regulations of
state governmental agencies and cooperate with the
pertinent activities and policies of associations
legally authorized to regulate or assist in the regulation
of the chiropractic profession.
- The chiropractic profession should
address itself to improvements in licensing procedures
consistent with the development of the profession
and of relevant advances in science.
Principle IIC. Participation
in Community Affairs
- A chiropractor should participate
as a responsible citizen in the public affairs of
their local community, state and nation in order to
improve law, administrative procedures and public
policies that pertain to chiropractic and the system
of health-care delivery. A chiropractor should stand
ready to take the initiative in the proposal and development
of measures to benefit the general public health and
well-being, and should cooperate in the administration
and enforcement of such measures and programs to the
extent consistent with the law.
Principle IID. Professional
Advertising
- A chiropractor shall strive to build
a professional reputation based on his/her ability
and integrity, will avoid commercial advertising in
the various media which is not in accordance with
New York State Regulations.
- A chiropractor may advertise but
should exercise utmost care that such advertising
is relevant to the selection of a chiropractor, is
accurate, truthful, not misleading or false or deceptive,
and scrupulously correct in representing the chiropractor's
professional status and area of special competence
as provided for by New York State Regulations. Communications
to the public should not appeal primarily to an individual's
anxiety or create unjustified expectations of results.
A chiropractor should conform to all applicable state
laws, regulations and judicial decisions in connection
with professional advertising.
- The advertising of free x-ray (radiology,
roentgenological) examinations to the public and patients
is injurious to the public'
|
