Search this site. Site contents.
|
ETHICS AND STANDARDS What to do with an ethical concern The following is the procedure to follow in order to file a question, complaint, or grievance regarding professional ethics of a MSHA member: Submit the question or complaint to the MSHA office either in writing or by phone. The MSHA office will forward the question or complaint to the Vice President of Ethics and Standards. The Vice President will obtain background information, review the concern with the MSHA Executive Council if necessary, and respond to the submitter by phone or in writing. All contacts are kept in a log by the Vice President, and reported on a monthly basis to the MSHA Executive Council. The 2007 Annual Report for the Ethics and Standards Committee can be viewed at the following link Ethics Reports The 2008 Vice President for Ethics and Standards is Tara Mahaney Code of Ethics of the
MICHIGAN
SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION The preservation of the highest standards of integrity
and ethical principles is vital to the successful discharge of the
responsibilities of all members. This
Code of Ethics has been promulgated by the Association in an effort to
highlight the fundamental rules and is considered essential to this
basic purpose. The failure
to specify any particular responsibility or practice in the Code of
Ethics should not be construed as denial of the existence of other
responsibilities or practices that are equally important.
Any act that is in violation of the spirit and purpose of this
Code of Ethics shall be unethical practice.
It is the responsibility of each member to advise the Ethics and
Standards Committee of instances of violation of the principles
incorporated in the Code. SECTION A. Client
Relationships The
ethical responsibilities of the member require that the welfare of
persons served professionally be considered paramount.
1.
The member who engages in paid professional clinical work must
possess appropriate qualifications.
a.
The member may provide only those services for which proper
training has been received, i.e., necessary course work and supervised
practicum.
The member who has not completed professional preparation must not
provide language, speech or hearing services except in a supervised
clinical practicum situation as a part of a training program.
The member who utilizes paraprofessionals must directly supervise
their activities.
2.
The member must follow acceptable patterns of professional conduct
in relationships with the people served
a.
Results of any language, speech or hearing consultation or
therapeutic procedure must not be guaranteed.
Although a reasonable statement of prognosis and/or progress may be
made, any guarantee of any sort, expressed or implied, oral or written, is
unethical.
b.
A member who is receiving a salary or fee for providing services to
a person or group of persons may not receive an additional fee for
alternative or supplemental services unless authorized to do so by his/her
primary employer.
c.
Diagnosis, treatment or re-evaluation of individual language,
speech or hearing disorders must not be done by correspondence or by
telephone. This does not
preclude follow-up correspondence of individuals previously seen, nor does
it preclude providing the person served professionally with general
information of an educational nature.
d.
Confidential information obtained from individuals served
professionally must not be revealed without written permission of the
client.
e.
Persons served professionally must not be exploited
(1) by
accepting them for professional language, speech or hearing services which
for any reason are contraindicated;
(2)
by continuing treatment unnecessarily;
(3)
by charging exorbitant fees.
3.
The member must use every reasonable resource available, including
referral to other specialists as needed, to effect as great improvement as
possible in the persons served.
4. The member
must take every precaution to avoid injury to each person served
professionally. SECTION B.
Professional Relationships
The duties of individual members related to other professional
workers are many.
1.
Each individual member should seek participation in open and
significant professional discussion of all theoretical and practical issues but avoid personal
invective directed toward professional colleagues or members of allied
professions.
2.
Each member should establish harmonious relations with members of
other professions. Others should be informed concerning the services that can be rendered by
members of the speech and hearing profession and, in turn, information
should be sought from members of related professions.
Each member should strive to increase knowledge within the field of
speech and hearing. SECTION C. Other Responsibilities
The member has other special responsibilities.
1.
Each individual member must guard against conflicts of professional
interest.
a.
Compensation, in any form, must not be accepted from a manufacturer
or a dealer in prosthetic or other devices for recommending any particular
product.
b.
Individuals may announce and/or
may make known professional clinical services in a manner consistent with
professional standards established in the State of Michigan for medical,
dental, psychological and related professions.
Services for which an individual has not received professional
training may not be stated or offered.
Individuals may announce and/or make known consultative services in published listings under the
categories for which adequate professional
training has been completed and in a manner consistent with professional
standards established in the State of Michigan for medical, dental,
psychological and related professions.
c.
Individuals must not engage in commercial activities that conflict
with responsibilities to the persons served professionally or to
colleagues.
d.
Individuals who dispense products to persons served professionally
shall observe the following standards:
(1)
Products associated with professional practice must be dispensed to the
person served as a part of a program of comprehensive habilitative care.
(2)
Fees established for professional services must be independent of whether
a product is dispensed.
(3)
Persons served must be provided freedom of choice for the source of
services and products.
(4)
Price information about professional services rendered and products
dispensed must be disclosed by providing to or posting for persons a
complete schedule of fees and charges in advance of rendering services, with differentiation
between fees for professional services and charges for products dispensed.
(5)
A program to assure the effective use of the product dispensed must be
provided to the client.
(6)
The individual dispensing such products must comply with the requirements
of the State of Michigan for dispensing such products.
2. Individuals should help in the
education of the public regarding language, speech, and hearing problems
and other matters within their area of professional competence.
3.
It is incumbent upon the member to make every reasonable effort to
be certain that public information materials are accurate and complete in their reference
to professional services and facilities.
4.
Each member should seek to provide and expand services to persons
with language, speech and hearing handicaps, and to assist in establishing
high professional standards for such programs.
5.
Individuals must not discriminate on the basis of national origin,
religion, sex, or color in their professional relationships with
colleagues or clients. SECTION D.
Specialized Codes
The adherence to this code by the membership does not prohibit the
development of specialized Codes of Ethics related to specific areas of
professional activity. SECTION E.
Revision of the Code of Ethics
The Code of Ethics of the Michigan Speech-Language-Hearing
Association may be amended by a 2/3 vote of the membership present at a
regular Association Business meeting.
The proposed amendments shall be announced to each member in
writing at least 30 days prior to such a meeting.
Proposed amendments/changes may be submitted by the Executive
Council or by any member in good standing.
|
