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Ethics & Professionalism

Physician's Charter

Read the Physician's Charter

Stewardship of Health Care Resources Grant

Ethics Issues

Position Paper offers Ethical Guidance for Using Patient Incentives to Motivate Behavior Change

Ethical Considerations for the Use of Patient Incentives to Promote Personal Responsibility for Health: West Virginia Medicaid and Beyond
This position paper highlights College positions on strategies that use patient incentives designed to promote wellness.

Ethical Guidance for Patient-Physician-Family Caregiver Relationships

"Family Caregivers, Patients and Physicians: Ethical Guidance to Optimize Relationships"
This ACP position paper outlines primary principles for physicians, who may face ethical challenges collaborating with patients and family caregivers while preserving the primacy of the patient-physician relationship.

Case Studies

Ethics case studies illustrate real-life issues physicians encounter in everyday practice. The commentaries developed by the ACP Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee and the Center for Ethics and Professionalism offer a problem-solving approach based on medical ethics principles. CME credit is available for completion of ACP's professionalism case studies series featured on Medscape - http://cme.medscape.com/viewpublication/30131.

  • Copied and Pasted and Misdiagnosed (or Cloned Notes and Blind Alleys)
    May 16, 2012

  • Who Should Get What? Mammography and the Stewardship of Health Care Resources
    March 1,5 2012

  • Patient/Physician/Family Caregiver Relationships: When the Family Caregiver is a Physician.
    January 28, 2011

  • Physician Work Stoppages and Political Demonstrations -- Economic Self-Interest or Patient Advocacy? Where Is the Line?
    October 18, 2010

  • To Be or Not to Be: Should I Serve as an Expert Witness?
    July 2, 2010

  • Author! Author! Who Should Be Named in a Published Study? An Ethics Case Study
    December 31, 2009

More on Case Studies

Ethical Complaints

Complaints Procedures
BOR approves revision to ACP Complaints Procedures (April 19, 2010)

The College has modified its ethics procedures to emphasize (1) the College’s obligation to review issues related to ethical conduct of physician members regardless of how the College receives notification of such matters; and (2) member representation by an attorney only if the College elects to have attorney representation at an ethics hearings. These and other minor changes can be found in the Complaints Procedures.

More on Ethical Complaints

ACP Conflict of Interest Policy

About the Center

For more information on the Center, contact Lois Snyder, JD, Director, at 215-351-2835, or at lsnyder@acponline.org.

Page updated: 05-17-12

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