Professional Ethics, Recordkeeping, Informed Consent, and Advertising Boundaries
Records
Records must be contemporaneous, legible, and complete: history, examination, diagnosis, treatment plan, informed consent, progress notes, referrals, and releases. Retain them under Indiana's retention rule, release only with patient authorization or legal compulsion, and provide copies promptly. An altered record is worse than a missing one.
Informed consent
Explain the diagnosis, proposed care, material risks, alternatives including no treatment, and expected course. Document the discussion and the patient's agreement. Consent is a process, not a signature on a generic form.
Advertising
Advertising must be truthful, not misleading, and within scope. Avoid guarantees, "cure" claims, unsubstantiated superiority, and "specialist" claims unless the credential is real and accurately described. Patient testimonials and before/after images require valid authorization; social media is advertising.
Worked example
An ad offers a "free exam and X-rays" but the exam is a sales pitch and X-rays are routine for every patient. Reasoning: routine imaging without clinical indication and a bait-and-switch are misleading and below the standard of care. The advertised service and the record must match.
Traps
Altering records after a complaint; using a blanket consent without discussion; posting before/after photos without HIPAA authorization; implying a specialty the Board does not recognize.