Ethical Standard for Physician Self-Referral

AMA Sets Ethical Standard for Physician Self-Referral

By Emily P. Walker, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today Published: November 11, 2008

ORLANDO, Nov. 11 -- It is unethical for physicians to self-refer to facilities where they have a financial stake unless they spell it all out to their patients, according to an opinion adopted this week by the American Medical Association's policy-making House of Delegates. The opinion emerged from the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA), chaired by Regina M. Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A., of the Bayou La Batre (Ala.) Rural Health Clinic. It said that while business arrangements among physicians can benefit patients, they also "can be ethically challenging when they create opportunities for self-referral in which patients' medical interests can be in tension with the physicians' financial interests." Transparency is vital to keeping these relationships ethical, said Dr. Benjamin, a family physician. William Dolan, M.D., Rochester, N.Y., an orthopedic surgeon and a member of the AMA's board of trustees, agreed that a physician "must tell the patient what his or her interest is" in order for self-referral to be ethical./.../