Jeffrey Ashby – Ethics 2.0: When Clinical Goes Digital

Outline

Nothing as Practical as a Good Theory

• How theories of ethical decision-making inform practice
• What’s your ethical theory? (And yes, you do have one)
• Consequentialism, Deontology, and other theories

Understanding Ethical Decision Making

• Models of ethical decision-making
• The pre-critical process of decision-making
• Values, morals, laws, and other “cousins” of ethics

Identify Contemporary Challenges

• Technology
• How the codes written for paper records apply to electronic records
• Digital communication
• Distance therapy
• Professional guidelines and positions papers
• Skype anyone?
• Social media
• Internet
• Website content and structure
• When and if to blog
• Navigating consumer review sites

Informed Consent

• What information should be included?
• How much information is enough?
• Updated content for your Informed Consent Form
• Case examples
• “I know what I signed–but that’s not what I understand”
• “And now my insurance won’t pay”

Clinical Competence

• Boundaries of competence
• Understanding emotional competence
• Addressing cultural competence
• Supervision vs. consultation
• Case examples
• “Re-specializing”
• “When you can’t refer”

Confidentiality

• Online disclosures
• ICD-10, HIPAA, and communicating with third-party payers
• Encryption, storage, and the cloud
• Case examples
• “Confidentiality online”
• “Alternate forms of communication”

Multiple Relationships

• What kind of online relationship is really a “relationship”?
• Managing beneficial multiple relationships
• Gifts, bartering, and social contact
• Case examples
• “One of 5,000 friends”
• “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to”

Put it All Together

• Anticipating future ethical challenges
• Using a decision-making model that will work in the future
• Understanding the role of ethics in quality client care