When engaging in this practice, physicians should:
- Allocate responsibilities among physicians and other clinicians according to each individual's expertise and qualifications.
- Work with the patient and family to designate one physician to be responsible for ensuring that care is delivered in a coordinated and appropriate manner.
- Participate in the provision of care by communicating with the coordinating physician and encouraging other members of the care team to do the same.
- Obtain patient consent for the surgical co-management arrangement of care, including disclosing significant aspects of the arrangement such as qualifications of clinicians, services each clinician will provide, and billing arrangement.
- Obtain informed consent for medical services in keeping with ethics guidance, including provision of all relevant medical facts.
- Employ appropriate safeguards to protect patient confidentiality.
- Ensure that surgical co-management arrangements are in keeping with ethical and legal restrictions.
- Engage another caregiver based on that caregiver’s skill and ability to meet the patient’s needs, not in the expectation of reciprocal referrals or other self-serving reasons, in keeping with ethics guidance on consultation and referrals.
- Refrain from participating in unethical or illegal financial agreements, such as fee-splitting.
AMA Principles of Medical Ethics: I, II, IV, V, VI
Read the Principles