Is this a conflict over a team member’s practice style or is it a breach professional boundaries? Is it appropriate for team members to make this judgment, or should it instead come from the team leader?
If a medical decision about high-value care involves a conflict between the principles of beneficence and justice, an explicit analysis of the individual case is necessary to ensure that the interests of both the patient and society are served.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(11):1022-1027. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.11.ecas1-1511.
Respecting patient autonomy sometimes entails adult patients' making what those in allopathic medicine view as poor decisions, but compassionate patient communication can leave the door open for patients to change their minds.
Rachel O. Reid, MD, MS and Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH
An effective policy regarding retail clinics in a primary care practice should address patients' need for timely and convenient acute care and build capacity for enhanced access to acute care within the primary care clinic itself.