Professional Conduct, Ethics, Patient Records, and Advertising
Domain 5 tests professional conduct, ethics, patient records, and advertising.
Core rules
- A chiropractor must act within scope, obtain informed consent, avoid sexual or exploitative relationships with patients, protect confidentiality, and avoid conflicts of interest.
- Patient records must be legible, complete, and contemporaneous: history, examination, diagnosis, treatment plan, informed consent, progress notes, and response to care. The board’s rules govern retention and release. Release generally requires patient authorization except for treatment, insurance, or legal requirements.
- Advertising must be truthful and not misleading. Avoid guarantees of cure, claims outside the scope, false credentials, and patient testimonials that reveal protected health information without authorization.
- The board may discipline unprofessional conduct even when no patient is harmed.
Worked example
A clinic advertises “100% cure for asthma-no referrals needed.” Asthma is outside the statutory chiropractic scope, and a guaranteed cure is misleading. The board could treat the ad as false advertising and a scope violation. The clinic must withdraw the ad, correct its website, and may face discipline. A testimonial from a named patient would need written authorization.
Traps
Do not equate “not malpractice” with “not a board violation.” Do not release records to a spouse or employer without proper authorization. Do not use before-and-after photos that identify a patient without consent. Do not assume a disclaimer fixes a misleading headline.