The separation of dental and medical care is a medical ethics issue because it negatively impacts vulnerable populations who lack access to dental care.
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(9):861-868. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.9.peer1-1609.
Nicholas Freudenberg, MD and Peter M. Yellowlees, MBBS, MD
Ideally, telepsychiatry treatment should include collaboration with patients’ primary care physicians. One way to facilitate the collaboration is for patients to have videoconference appointments with their psychiatrists in the primary care clinic.
Timothy K. Mackey, MAS and Bryan A. Liang, MD, JD, PhD
Studies show that clinical practice guidelines, used by an accused physician or by patients alleging a breach of standard care, have an impact on case outcomes.
A clinical practice policy prohibiting house calls that opposes the practice standards of individual clinicians may be unethical and reasonable, but it may still be possible to treat patients who prefer house calls while abiding by the policy.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(5):419-424. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.5.ecas1-1505.
Daphne C. Ferrer, MD and Peter M. Yellowlees, MBBS, MD
Telepsychiatry extends access to psychiatric treatment to those who might not otherwise get it, but licensure problems and the risk of boundary violations between patients and physicians need to be worked out.