Tip of the week: Develop policies to prevent physicians from treating themselves and family members

According to the American Medical Association (AMA) Code of Medical Ethics (Opinion 8.19), physicians should not diagnose, treat, or prescribe medications for themselves or family members unless in an emergency situation or an isolated location where no other physician is available. 

According to the AMA ethics policy, when physicians treat themselves or their family members, it can raise a number of issues, including:

• Physicians may not be objective when diagnosing and treating themselves or a patient who is also a family member
• Physicians may fail to ask personal questions or perform certain exams because they are uncomfortable
• Patients, particularly minor children, may feel uncomfortable providing certain personal information
• Physicians may be tempted to treat problems that are beyond their scopes of practice
• Patients who are family members may hesitate to speak up regarding their discomfort or may feel guilty about declining the physician’s recommendations
• The physician’s relationship with the family member may be compromised if there is a negative medical outcome

Given some physicians’ tendencies to gloss over the AMA or state guidelines, it is important for medical staffs to develop their own policies regarding self treatment and the treatment of family members. Negligent credentialing lawsuits are complicated enough, but if the plaintiff is a family member of the treating physician, the waters get murky.

This week’s tip comes from “Policies prohibiting self treatment protect medical staffs, physicians, and families” in the April issue of Credentialing & Peer Review Legal Insider.