The AMA was founded in part to establish the first national code of medical ethics. Today the Code is widely recognized as authoritative ethics guidance for physicians through its Principles of Medical Ethics interpreted in Opinions of AMA’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs that address the evolving challenges of contemporary practice.
In handling patient data, individual physicians should balance supporting and respecting patient privacy with upholding their ethical obligations to the betterment of public health. The use of data for the benefit of public health should be treated as a form of public good in which the standards and values of health care should follow the data and be upheld and maintained. Those with access to datasets have a duty to uphold the ethical values of health care in which the data were produced.
Donation of needed organs to specified recipients has long been permitted in organ transplantation. Directed organ donation policies that produce a net gain of organs for transplantation and do not unreasonably disadvantage other transplant candidates are ethically acceptable.
Differences in treatment that are not directly related to differences in individual patients’ clinical needs or preferences constitute inappropriate variations in health care. Such variations may contribute to health outcomes that are considerably worse in marginalized populations. Physicians ethically are called on to provide the same quality of care to all patients without regard to medically irrelevant personal characteristics.
Short-term global health clinical encounters provide needed care to individual patients in under-resourced settings and address global health inequities. Physicians engaging in short-term global health clinical encounters have an ethical obligation to prioritize benefits for the host community and ensure quality care while maintaining awareness for cultural differences. Sponsors of short-term global health clinical encounters should ensure the provision of resources, that team members practice within the limits of their skills, and that a mechanism for meaningful data collection is in place.
Because health care is a fundamental human good, society has an obligation to make access to an adequate level of care available to all its members, regardless of ability to pay.
Physicians have a responsibility to contribute their expertise to developing resource allocation policies that are fair and that safeguard the welfare of patients.
Physicians individually and collectively have an ethical responsibility to ensure that all persons have access to needed care regardless of their economic means.
Physicians should hold leaders accountable to meeting conditions for professionalism in health care systems. This includes advocating for changes in health care payment and delivery models to promote access to high quality care for all patients, recognizing that over-reliance on financial incentives may undermine physician professionalism.
Physicians are free to enter into retainer contracts to provide special non-medical services and amenities with individual patients who are willing and able to pay for them. However, physicians must always uphold their primary professional obligation of fidelity and their responsibility to treat all patients with courtesy, to respect patients’ rights and dignity, and to ensure that all patients in their practice receive the same quality of medical care.
