There are few situations in which the standard of care is so clear-cut as to preclude physician judgment. Assessing the degree of need (not just the standard of care) when asking a patient to spend money requires judgment.
Physician employment adds a practice management stakeholder to the patient-physician encounter, a stakeholder whose financial interests differ from those of physicians in solo or group practice.
The casebook developed by the Bander Center for Medical Business Ethics provides a comprehensive instrument for teaching medical business ethics decision making by exploring the effects of relevant variables on medical practice and research and reflecting on the values and motives that influence the behavior of health care professionals.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(8):744-749. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.8.medu1-1508.
The American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics’ opinions on physicians’ self-referral and physicians’ sale of health-related and non-health-related products from their offices.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(8):739-743. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.8.coet1-1508.