Social workers are expected to follow the National Code of Ethics and uphold the ethical values of the social work profession. Not all social workers and mental health clinicians are adhering to the Code of Ethics especially when it comes to accurately diagnosing clients. Some are purposely under or over diagnosing clients and are in direct violation of the ethical standards of the profession. Clinicians, at times, may feel pressured by external and internal forces to use a label even though they do not believe it is the best description of a person's symptoms.
According to Kirk and Kutchins( 1988), mental health professionals are intentionally misdiagnosing their clients for reasons many reasons. One reason this is occurring is for third
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The implications for committing acts of misdiagnosing clients affect not only the clients but also the clinicians. The saying “ Do no Harm” is often associated in the field of social work and is a reminder to all social workers to put the needs of clients before those of the clinician (NASW Code of Ethics 1996). Clients trust their clinicians and view them as the expert to help them resolve the issues that have led them to seek assistance in the first place. Trust is broken when the clinician expresses their reasoning to the client for the misdiagnose, and the innocent client is easily manipulated into believing that the clinician has their best interest in mind, when in fact, they do not. Not providing the client with the proper may lead to catastrophic outcomes for the client. By breaking the confidence on the clinician by faulty and intentionally misleadings for whatever purpose, may prevent the client from trusting the social work/mental health profession as a whole. If this were to occur, it might prevent someone from future …show more content…
Insurance fraud has caused the government to tighten its declaration against these unlawful practices. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996(Braun and Cox, 2005). This Act led to the formation of the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program which is responsible for overseeing, investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraudulent acts related to insurance fraud. This a reasonable risk that clinicians make when misdiagnosing to receive reimbursement or for purposes for treatment to be paid for by the third party
Autonomy. Hai’s mental state is altered with the manifestations of delusions and hallucinations making him incapable of deciding for himself. His ability to practice his autonomy and refusal of medical treatment is deemed invalid due to his mental illness.
The five participants with no history of mental illness risked being labeled with characteristics of a mental health diagnosis. Two participants received misdiagnoses of a mental illness they did not embody. In the film, Vicky responded to the misdiagnosis by sharing that she felt confident in her mental health ( ). However, the misdiagnosis of an individual who does not have the same confidence as Vicky could have detrimental effects. As a future social worker, I feel it is important to recognize that Vicky’s response and feelings towards the misdiagnosis is likely unusual. Mental health professionals must exercise caution when preforming diagnosis, since it has a profound impact on an individual’s
The EAI indicates that ethical guidelines have changed from individual character to organizational ethics (Ethics Awareness Inventory, 2011). The prime focus of this change are client-patient relationships in psychological counseling and clinical practice (Fisher, (2013). Psychological counseling and clinical practice are both constructed on ethical guidelines with the possibility for misuse of power and negligence to discretion (Fisher,
In my future social work career, it is imperative to be cognizant of my personal experiences and preconceptions regarding mental illness. As I participant in evaluation and diagnosis of mental illness, I will utilize a blank slate mentality. I will strive to prevent previous clients’ behavior, the individual’s current diagnoses, and personal judgments to cloud my diagnosis or interactions.
As anyone can see, health care fraud is a huge issue in the United States and with the upcoming nationalized health care system finally going into effect this year, more opportunities
Dr. Ofer Zur (2016) reported that some mental heath providers have submitted inaccurate insurance bills to get paid more units for services they did not render. For that reason these same therapists may have over- diagnose youth with disorders in order to defraud the insurance companies. Dr. Zuf (2016) also states that these therapists have included patients in their illegal activities by promising them that they receive larger reimbursement check from their insurance company(para.1). According to research “false billing practice has become very common, some therapists are not even aware that they are involved in what some people call "theft by deception”( Zur,2016.para,1).
The section of the National Association of Social Work Ethics that will be discussed will be number four which includes Social Workers’ ethical responsibilities as professionals. This ethics code concentrates on a several different factors which include: 4.01 Competence, 4.02 discrimination, 4.03 private conduct, 4.04 dishonesty, 4.05 personal impairment, 4.06 misinterpretations, 4.07 solicitations, and 4.08 acknowledging credit.
Perhaps the finest total dollar quantity of fraud is devoted via the medical health insurance companies themselves. There are severa research and articles detailing examples of insurance companies deliberately not paying claims and deleting them from their structures,[21] denying and cancelling coverage, and the blatant underpayment to hospitals and physicians beneath what are normal costs for care they provide.[22] Although tough to acquire the records, this fraud via coverage agencies may be anticipated through comparing revenues from premium bills and prices on health
The therapist allowed himself to let emotional and dependency needs distract him, and intimate gestures distract him. He engaged in altruistic gestures, thus making it hard for him to provide the appropriate services for his client Angel Z. After researching all of the important information it is clear that the social worker was unethical in this situation. Even though he may have thought his actions were harmless, they were detrimental to the progress of Angel Z. instead of thinking about his own personal needs and trying to impress his boss he should have been concerned with Angel Z ’s well-being. Not being able to uphold a level of professionalism not only affected Angel,
In the mental health profession of counseling, therapy, psychology, psychiatric and social services ethical dilemmas are faced primarily on a daily basis. Being that mental health professionals are working with clients who are often fragile and vulnerable, they must develop an intense awareness of ethical issues. On the other hand, mental health professionals would never intentionally harm their clients, students or colleagues and others whom they work with. Unfortunately, good intentions are not enough to ensure that wrong doings will not occur and mental health professionals have no choice but to make ethically determined decisions. Depending upon the experience and expertise of the professional determines the outcome of the ethical
Ethical dilemmas happen frequently in the social work and how one handles them could be the difference on how a clinician keeps their license or not. The problem is there is no way to prepare a person from knowing what situations will arise. Scenarios arise all the time and new ways to handle them is constantly changing. The ethical dilemma can happen anywhere and at any time with anyone, it could be a client, co-worker, and even supervisors. No social worker is safe from them. One however can practice with scenarios and be aware of personal biases. A social worker needs to evaluate each dilemma with the different frameworks and principals to determine which one applies best, anticipate what possible outcomes could happen, and what interventions a social worker would implement.
An essential job duty for any healthcare professional is to be able to service clients. The Code of Ethics (1999) outlines that service means to use the knowledge that a social worker has acquired through training and education to assist clients with issues that are inhibiting them from living their life completely and without suffering. By this definition, a social worker’s job is to assist a client with real-life issues, such as depression and anxiety, which are faced by the majority of the elderly population (Richardson & Barusch, 2006). For a social worker, assisting clients who face mental illness means
There are certain guidelines, expectations and ethical codes to be adhered to in all disciplines in the healthcare system and social work is of no exception to this. The following piece shall explain how the social work discipline requires from its members, that they obtain a professional identity and assimilate this identity not only into their work life but also into an extensive amount of their private life as well. Clients and/or patients have to place an enormous quantity of trust, reliance and dependence into the integrity of the professionals in these fields of practise. The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Code of Ethics, (2010). Informs: “The social work profession values honesty, transparency, reliability, empathy, reflective self-awareness, discernment, competence and commitment”. Also: “Members of the social work profession apply knowledge and skills in ways that prioritise the needs of others over their own personal gain”. (Australian Association of Social Workers, 2010). To be indicted of ‘unprofessional’ conduct is a formidable disgracing mechanism and being branded as ‘unprofessional’ would be probably the worst label that could be affixed to a social worker. This would also of the highest probability end in the practitioner being dismissed from duties, if found to be guilty of the offence of ‘professional misconduct’, and then eventually fully, disgracefully discharged. This would also be a
There are several ethical dilemmas that the mental health professionals that are working as a team will face including “ensuring that the client has given informed consent, maintaining client confidentiality, and involving professionals, paraprofessionals, and family in appropriate coordinated processes that benefit the client” (Paproski & Haverkamp, 2000, p.96).
(Jones and Jing) Though citizens might not see the effects of health care fraud directly, everyone is impacted in one way or another either through increased taxes, high insurance costs, or the inability to afford health care coverage. While we all hear about major frauds in the system, a majority of the frauds are small and usually go through undetected, unreported, or seriously underreported. (Sparrow) These small frauds add up to be a huge problem. There is a large spectrum of frauds in the health-care systems ranging from the theft of a wheelchair, to organized crime groups that steal patient information and bill for phantom services in multimillion-dollar schemes. (Jones and Jing) In many cases, the fraud is minor but all the small scams add up to an enormous loss to the public. For example, the frequent occurrences of forging of a doctor’s signature on a prescription accounts for billions of dollars lost each year. (Jones and Jing) One of the most common crimes involves billing for services that were never performed. This involves a health care provider submitting a false claim to be paid for a patient that was never treated or adding on services to a patient. For example a doctor may obtain names of other people such as a patients spouse or child who are covered by insurance and put in a claim for them as well as the actual patient. (FBI) Another common fraudulent activity involves upcoding of services. This is when a healthcare