Doctors face new rules on personal relationships
Alberta doctors will soon be subject to a new professional rule that calls on them to minimize financial, legal and other close personal relationships with patients that could compromise the care they provide.
The council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta approved the new standard on so-called “boundary violations” at its most recent spring meeting.
While doctors were already banned from sexual interactions with patients, the new regulation broadens the scope to warn about other types of relationships that similarly risk interfering with the trust required between doctor and patient.
“A regulated member must consider and minimize any potential conflict of interest or risk of coercion when engaging with a patient in a non-clinical context,” the standard reads.
The rule comes into effect July 1. College consultations on the issue produced a variety of concerns from physicians, including some who felt the new standard was too vague to help doctors understand which relationships were truly
problematic.
Others argued the rule was particularly problematic for doctors working in small communities, where it is nearly impossible to avoid personal relationships with patients.
The college said the standard is not intended to force doctors to wall themselves off completely, but rather to prompt physicians to think about the wisdom of getting into certain types of arrangements with people who are already patients.
As an example, asking a patient for a loan or accepting business favours could interfere with the trust relationship, make the patient feel coerced, or change how a doctor chooses to provide care, the college said.
Some experts in medical ethics have warned that doctors who have secondary interests in their patients tend to alter their standard of care — perhaps by granting a questionable prescription or making a premature diagnosis.
Other physician colleges, such as those in B.C. and Ontario, have adopted or are exploring similar rules.