Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Ethics and Professionalism
Lecture:Ethical issues in health informatics
Slide content:Example of a Conflict of Interest Patients get medical appointments in order of listing in database Close friend is far down, asks to be moved up Primary duty: Treat all patients fairly Secondary motivation: Friendship Conflicts of interest cannot always be avoided If not, they should be disclosed to supervisor or other appropriate person 9
Slide notes:For example, imagine a situation in which patients are supposed to receive medical appointments in the order in which their information was placed in a database. Imagine that a close friend is very far down on the list and asks to be moved up on the list. In this situation, the primary duty is to treat all patients on the list fairly. However, the personal motivation of friendship provides a strong emotional pull in the direction of making an exception for the friend. Any potential conflict of interest should be disclosed to appropriate parties. In this example, it might be appropriate to disclose to a supervisor that a friend requested preferential treatment and assure the supervisor that the proper protocol will be observed. 9