Wiki Physician Assistant

[dgarrett10]

Is it ethical for a Physician Assistant to be employed in the same clinic as his brother who is also his also his supervising physician. Both are salaried work in the same clinic and are brothers. Thanks for any help.

 

[cgaston]

There is no law that prohibits family members from working together.

The Stark Law has to do with a physician referring patients to a separate entity that he/she has a monetary stake in. These two professionals work for the same company so there is no conflict.

 

[dgarrett10]

Does it matter that employer has a policy in place which states: Care must be exercised in the evaluation, selection and placement of candidates for employment and/or transfer who are relatives of employees to ensure that family ties do not interfere with the efficient operation and prudent financial control checks and balances of the hospital and that employees are not subject to unfair or preferential treatment as a result of their relationship to other hospital employees.
1. Relatives of employees must be screened and selected for position openings by the same standards as all other applicants.
2. Employees must not be placed or transferred into any position which place the employee under the supervision, direction or influence over a member of their family.
3. Employees must not be placed or transferred into any position where the employee would exercise supervision, direction or influence of a member of their family.
4. Employees must not be placed or transferred into any position which would place the employee in a financial or financially-related position where the supervisor is a relative and has direct or indirect control and/or influence over the financial control of the hospital.
5. Becoming Related After Employment

 

[cgaston]

Does it matter that employer has a policy in place which states: Care must be exercised in the evaluation, selection and placement of candidates for employment and/or transfer who are relatives of employees to ensure that family ties do not interfere with the efficient operation and prudent financial control checks and balances of the hospital and that employees are not subject to unfair or preferential treatment as a result of their relationship to other hospital employees.
1. Relatives of employees must be screened and selected for position openings by the same standards as all other applicants.
2. Employees must not be placed or transferred into any position which place the employee under the supervision, direction or influence over a member of their family.
3. Employees must not be placed or transferred into any position where the employee would exercise supervision, direction or influence of a member of their family.
4. Employees must not be placed or transferred into any position which would place the employee in a financial or financially-related position where the supervisor is a relative and has direct or indirect control and/or influence over the financial control of the hospital.
5. Becoming Related After Employment

If the employer has this policy then the matter should be brought up with the employer as to why this particular policy has been disregarded. This would not be a legal matter.

 

[thomas7331]

Agreed, this would be a concern to direct internally to the company's human resources department or your organization's internal compliance officer - it's not within the realm of coding compliance.

Many companies have such policies, but in my experience, in cases where they are unable to fill a position and have a real need for a particular person's skills in a spot that creates a conflict with the policies, they will either grant an exception, or find a workaround. For example, they may have one person report directly to another department for purposes of management (e.g. for determination of salary, bonuses, raises, performance reviews, etc.) in order to prevent favoritism to a relative, even though the daily supervision of the work itself might be between two members of the family.