DPT Professional Ethics & Healthcare Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A PT discovers that a colleague is billing for services that were never provided. What is the PT's primary ethical obligation?
- Confront the colleague privately and give them a chance to self-report
- Report the fraudulent billing to the appropriate authority such as the employer or licensing board (Correct answer)
- Document the observations and wait to see if it continues before acting
- Ignore the issue since it does not directly involve the PT's own patients
Correct answer: Report the fraudulent billing to the appropriate authority such as the employer or licensing board
PTs have an ethical duty to report illegal or unethical conduct, including billing fraud, to protect patients and the integrity of the profession.
Question 2: Which principle of the APTA Code of Ethics requires physical therapists to respect patient privacy and maintain confidentiality?
- Principle 1 – Beneficence
- Principle 3 – Accountability
- Principle 2 – Client/Patient Rights
- Principle 5 – Trustworthiness (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Principle 5 – Trustworthiness
Principle 5 addresses trustworthiness and includes the obligation to protect patient privacy and maintain confidentiality.
Question 3: A PT is asked to provide services outside their area of competence. The most appropriate action is to:
- Attempt the service with extra caution and document efforts
- Decline and refer the patient to a more qualified provider (Correct answer)
- Accept if no other PT is immediately available
- Consult a textbook and proceed with the treatment
Correct answer: Decline and refer the patient to a more qualified provider
PTs must practice within their scope of competence and refer patients when they lack the necessary skills or training.
Question 4: Under HIPAA, which action by a PT is considered a permissible disclosure of protected health information (PHI) without patient authorization?
- Sharing records with a patient's employer upon request
- Disclosing information to treat a life-threatening injury to the patient (Correct answer)
- Posting before-and-after photos on the clinic website
- Discussing a patient's diagnosis with their friend who accompanies them
Correct answer: Disclosing information to treat a life-threatening injury to the patient
HIPAA permits disclosure of PHI without authorization when necessary to treat a serious and imminent threat to the patient's life.
Question 5: A clinic manager asks a PT to shorten patient treatment times to increase daily patient volume. The PT believes this will compromise care quality. The PT should:
- Comply since administrators have authority over clinical operations
- Express concerns through appropriate channels and advocate for patients (Correct answer)
- Report the manager to the state board immediately without further discussion
- Reduce treatment times but document that quality may be affected
Correct answer: Express concerns through appropriate channels and advocate for patients
PTs have a duty to advocate for patients and must raise concerns about policies that compromise quality of care through appropriate internal channels first.
Question 6: Which staffing model in outpatient physical therapy raises the greatest ethical concerns regarding supervision and quality of care?
- One PT supervising two PTAs performing separate treatments simultaneously
- One PT treating a patient while a student observes
- One PT supervising six PTAs performing simultaneous treatments (Correct answer)
- One PT delegating ROM measurements to a PT aide
Correct answer: One PT supervising six PTAs performing simultaneous treatments
Supervising six PTAs simultaneously exceeds the PT's capacity to ensure safe, quality care and violates ethical and potentially legal supervision standards.
Question 7: A patient refuses a recommended intervention after receiving full information about risks and benefits. The PT should:
- Proceed anyway because the intervention is clinically indicated
- Document the refusal and respect the patient's autonomous decision (Correct answer)
- Contact the patient's family to persuade them
- Discharge the patient for non-compliance
Correct answer: Document the refusal and respect the patient's autonomous decision
Respect for patient autonomy requires honoring an informed patient's right to refuse treatment, with thorough documentation of the refusal.
DPT Professional Ethics & Healthcare Management 2
A PT discovers that a colleague is billing for services that were never provided.
What is the PT's primary ethical obligation?