Ethical Boundary Violations and How to Avoid Them

Ethical Boundary Violations and How to Avoid Them

Course Overview
Ethical boundaries are the borders and limits of appropriate behavior between health care providers and their patients.  Some actions are so blatantly immoral that nobody could mistake them for being appropriate (such as having sex with a current patient), but others may not be so clear.  This activity highlights common legal issues, types of boundary violations, social media and how it can affect your medical practice, as well as investigation of complaints against physicians and monitoring your own activities.  The information provided should not be used as a substitute for individual legal advice. 

*This content is based on a quarterly newsletter issued by the Massachusetts Medical Society and Adler, Cohen, Harvey, Wakeman & Guekguezian, LLP, as an information source for Legal Advisory Plan members.  Nothing herein should be construed as legal advice or legal opinions regarding specific situations.  Consult legal counsel for application of laws and regulations in any individual case before taking any action or making any decisions.

Faculty

Megan Grew Pimentel, Esq.
Megan Grew Pimentel is a partner at Adler, Cohen, Harvey, Wakeman and Guekguezian, LLP. Megan is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She focuses her practice on the representation of healthcare professionals and institutions in medical malpractice actions and before the various Boards of Registration that govern these professionals.  Her practice also includes the defense of individuals and businesses in civil actions involving general liability, product liability and other personal injury matters.

Daniel Wu, Esq.
Daniel Wu is an attorney at Adler, Cohen, Harvey, Wakeman, and Guekguezian, LLP.  His practice is devoted to the defense of physicians, hospitals, and other medical professionals in medical malpractice actions and professional liability matters. In addition, his practice also includes general civil litigation matters.

Intended Audience
health care leaders, physicians, residents, other health care professionals and students in all health care professions.

Course Objectives

• Define some of the different types of boundary violations that can present themselves in the ordinary course of practice.
• Review the ways in which social media can be beneficial or harmful for a medical practice.
• Recall the Massachusetts (MA)  Board of Registration in Medicine’s role in investigating patient complaints against physicians.
•  Describe how physicians can monitor their own activities in relation to ethical boundaries.  

Course Fees
Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) Physician Member: $20.00
MMS Resident/Student Member: Free
Non-Member Physician: $45.00
Non-Members Resident/Student: $10.00
Allied Health Professional/Other: $16.00

Format & Estimated Time to Complete: Text, 1 hour

Accreditation Statement
Accreditation and Credit Information
The Massachusetts Medical Society is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

AMA Credit Designation Statement
The Massachusetts Medical Society designates this internet enduring material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This activity meets the criteria for the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine for risk management study.

MOC Approval Statement
Through the American Board of Medical Specialties (“ABMS”) ongoing commitment to increase access to practice relevant Continuing Certification Activities through the ABMS Continuing Certification Directory, this activity has met the requirements as a MOC Part II CME Activity(apply toward general CME requirement) for the following ABMS Member Boards: 

Allergy and Immunology
Anesthesiology
Colon and Rectal Surgery
Family Medicine
Medical Genetics and Genomics
Nuclear Medicine
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Plastic Surgery
Preventive Medicine
Psychiatry and Neurology
Radiology
Thoracic Surgery
Urology

National Commission on Certification of Physicians Assistant (NCCPA)
Physician Assistants may claim a maximum of 1.00 Category 1 credits for completing this activity. NCCPA accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by ACCME or a recognized state medical society.

Exam/Assessment: A score of 70% or higher is required to receive AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.

Activity Term
Original Release Date: March 9, 2021
Review Date (s): N/A
Termination Date: March 9, 2024

Course Developers, Reviewers & Web Producer:
Megan Grew Pimentel, Esq., partner at Adler, Cohen, Harvey, Wakeman and Guekguezian, LLP
Daniel W. Wu, Esq., attorney at Adler, Cohen, Harvey, Wakeman, and Guekguezian, LLP
Danna G. Muir, MBA, Director, Accreditation & Recognition, NEJM Group Education  
Jane E. Gagne, Manager, Accreditation and Education Compliance, NEJM Group Education 
Jessica Vautour, Product Manager, MMS Education Programs, NEJM Group Education
Thelma J. Tatten, Web Content Production Specialist, NEJM Group Education

System Requirements
Desktops/Laptops
Windows 10
Mac OSX 10.6 higher

Most modern browsers including:
IE 11+
Firefox 18.0+
Chrome latest version
Safari 12+

Mobile/Tablet
iOS devices beginning with OS version 10 or higher (includes, iPhone, ipad and iTouch devices)