OVERVIEW

Ethical Boundary Violations and How to Avoid Them is organized by Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS).

Original Release Date: 09/03/2021
Termination Date: 09/03/2024

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

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.

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.