New Mexico Register / Volume XXX, Issue
24 / December 31, 2019
This is an amendment
to 16.26.9 NMAC, Section 8 effective 1/10/2020.
Explanatory Statement:
Corrections were made in Sections 6 and 8 of this rule to eliminate the
use of ‘and/or’ per current legislative styles.
16.26.9.8 CODE
OF ETHICS:
A. The
purpose of the Code of Ethics is to preserve high standards of integrity and
ethical principles in the discharge of obligations to the public by the
professions of speech-language pathologists, audiologists and hearing aid
dispensers. Every individual who
practices as a licensed speech-language pathologist, audiologist or hearing aid
dispenser shall abide by the Code of Ethics. Any action that violates the Code of Ethics is
to be considered unethical and subject to disciplinary action by the
board. Failure of the code to specify
any particular responsibility or practice is not to be construed as a denial of
the existence of a responsibility or practice in that area. The rules of ethics are specific statements
of minimally acceptable professional conduct or of prohibitions and are
applicable to all licensed individuals.
The fundamental rules of ethical conduct as they relate to
responsibility to the public are described in three categories, principles of
ethics, ethical proscriptions and matters of professional propriety.
(1) Principles
of ethics: Six principles serve as a
basis for the ethical evaluation of professional conduct and form the
underlying moral basis for the Code of Ethics.
Licensed individuals subscribing to this code shall observe these
principles as affirmative obligations under all conditions of professional
activity.
(2) Ethical
proscriptions: Ethical proscriptions are
formal statements of prohibitions that are derived from the principles of
ethics.
(3) Matters
of professional propriety: Matters of
professional propriety represent guidelines of conduct designed to promote the
public interest and thereby better inform the public and particularly the
persons in need of service by the speech-language pathologist, audiologist and
hearing aid dispenser as to the availability and the rules governing the
delivery of these services.
B. Principles
of ethics 1: Individuals shall honor
their responsibility to hold paramount the welfare of the persons they serve
professionally.
(1) Licensed
individuals shall use every resource including referral to other specialists as
needed, to ensure that high quality service is provided.
(2) Licensed
individuals shall fully inform the persons they serve of the nature and
possible effects of the services rendered and products dispensed.
(3) Licensed
individuals shall fully inform subjects participating in research or teaching
activities of the nature and possible effects of these activities.
(4) Licensed
individuals shall evaluate the effectiveness of services rendered and of
products dispensed and shall provide services or dispense products only when
benefit can reasonably be expected.
(5) Licensed
individuals shall maintain adequate records of professional services rendered
and products dispensed and shall provide access to those records when
appropriately authorized.
(6) Licensed
individuals shall use persons in research or as subjects of teaching
demonstrations only with their fully informed consent.
(7) Licensed
individuals' fees shall be commensurate with services rendered.
(8) Licensed
individuals shall take all reasonable precautions to avoid injury to persons in
the delivery of professional services.
(9) Licensed
individuals whose services are adversely affected by substance abuse or other health-related conditions shall seek
professional assistance and, where appropriate, withdraw from the affected area
of practice.
C. Ethical
proscriptions:
(1) Licensed
individuals shall not discriminate in the delivery of professional services on
the basis of race or ethnicity, gender, age, religion, national orgin, sexual
orientation, or disability.
(2) Licensed
individuals shall not guarantee the results of any treatment, procedure, or
product, directly or by implication: however, they may make a reasonable
statement of prognosis. Caution must be
exercised not to mislead any person served professionally to expect results
that cannot be predicted from sound evidence.
(3) Licensed
individuals must not evaluate, treat, or dispense except in a professional
relationship.
(4) Licensed
individuals shall not evaluate, treat, or dispense solely by
correspondence. This does not preclude
follow-up correspondence with persons previously served, nor providing them
with general information of an educational nature.
(5) Licensed
individuals shall not reveal, without proper authorization any professional or
personal information about the person served professionally, unless required to
do so, or unless doing so is necessary to protect the welfare of the person or
of the community.
(6) Licensed
individuals must not charge for services not rendered.
(7) Licensed
individuals must not exploit any person in the delivery of professional
services, including accepting persons for treatment when benefit cannot
reasonably be expected or continuing treatment when it is no longer necessary.
D. Principles
of ethics II: Licensed individuals shall
maintain high standards of professional competence.
(1) Licensed
individuals shall engage in those aspects of the professions that are within
the scope of their licensed professional competence.
(2) Licensed
individuals shall identify competent, dependable referral sources for persons
served professionally.
(3) Licensed
individuals shall insure that all equipment used in the provision of services
is in proper working order and is properly calibrated.
(4) Licensed
individuals shall continue their professional development.
(5) Licensed
individuals shall possess appropriate qualifications for services provided.
E. Ethical
proscriptions:
(1) Licensed
individuals must not provide services by prescriptions from anyone who is not
licensed pursuant to these regulations.
(2) Licensed
individuals shall prohibit any of their staff from providing services that they
are not licensed or qualified to perform.
(3) Licensed
individuals must not require or delegate any service requiring professional
competence and licensure of/to anyone who is not competent and licensed to
engage in any practice that is a violation of the Code of Ethics.
(4) Licensed
individuals must not offer clinical services by supportive personnel for whom they do not provide appropriate
supervision and assume full responsibility.
(5) Licensed
individuals shall not provide professional services without exercising
independent professional judgement, regardless of referral source or
prescription.
F. Principles
of ethics III:
(1) Licensed
individuals shall honor their responsibility to the public by providing
accurate information in all communications involving any aspect of professional
service rendered.
(2) Licensed
individuals' statements to the public - advertising, announcing, and marketing
their professional services and products - shall adhere to prevailing and
acceptable professional standards.
(3) Licensed
individuals' statements to the public shall provide accurate information about
the nature and management of communication disorders, the products dispensed
thereof, about the professions and about professional services.
G. Ethical
proscriptions:
(1) Licensed
individuals shall not misrepresent their credentials, competence, education,
training, title, or experience.
(2) Licensed
individuals shall not misrepresent diagnostic information, services rendered,
or products dispensed, or artifice to defraud in connection with obtaining
payment or reimbursement for such services or products.
(3) Licensed
individuals must not make public statements regarding professional services and
products that contain representations or claims that are false, deceptive or
misleading.
(4) Licensed
individuals must not use professional or commercial affiliations in any way
that would mislead or limit services to persons served professionally.
H. Matters
of professional propriety: Licensed
individuals should announce services in a manner consistent with highest
professional standards in the community.
I. Principles
of ethics IV:
(1) Licensed
individuals shall maintain objectivity in all matters concerning the welfare of
persons served professionally. Licensees
who dispense products to the public shall observe the following standards.
(a) Products
associated with professional practice must be dispensed as a part of a program
of comprehensive habilitative care.
(b) Fees
established for professional services must be independent of whether a product
is dispensed.
(c) Persons
served shall be provided freedom of choice for the source of services and
products.
(d) Price
information about professional services rendered and products dispensed must be
disclosed by providing or posting a complete schedule of fees and charges in
advance of rendering services, which differentiates between fees for
professional services and charges for products dispensed.
(e) Products
dispensed to the person served must be evaluated to determine effectiveness.
(2) Any
person who practices the sale or fitting of hearing aids shall deliver to any
person supplied with a hearing aid, a receipt that shall contain:
(a) the
licensee’s signature, [the] address of the [licensee’s] regular
place of business and [the number of his license] license number;
it shall also show the make and model of the hearing aid furnished along with
the full terms of the sale clearly stated; if the hearing aid is not new, the
receipt must clearly show whether the hearing aid is used or reconditioned,
whichever is applicable in terms of any guarantee; the receipt shall also show
that the purchaser was advised that the licensee was not a licensed physician
and that the examination and recommendation was made as a hearing aid dispenser
or fitter and not as a medical diagnosis or prescription; the receipt shall
also include language stating that each prospective purchaser was informed at
the time of the initial examination for possible sale and fitting of a hearing
aid about hearing aid options that can provide a direct connection between the
hearing aid and assistive listening systems in accordance with the latest
standards for accessible design adopted by the United States department of
justice in accordance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
as amended. Each licensee and purchaser
must initial acknowledging that counseling for the above-mentioned options took
place and that the purchaser was informed concerning these options, and whether
the hearing aid(s) contain(s) a tele-coil or t-switch;
(b) the information regarding the trial period which shall be a minimum of 45 consecutive days; if the 45th day falls on a holiday, weekend, or a day the business is not open, the effective date shall be the first day the business reopens; full disclosure of the conditions of any offer of a trial period with a money back guarantee or partial refund; a trial period shall not include any time that the hearing aid is in the possession of the dispenser or the manufacturer; any extension of the 45-day refund period must be in writing and submitted to the client;
(c) shall also include the name, address, and telephone number of the speech language pathology, audiology and hearing aid dispensing practices board in the event a complaint needs to be filed.
(3) Any purchaser of a hearing instrument shall be entitled to a refund of the purchase price advanced by purchaser for the hearing instrument, less the agreed-upon amount associated with the trial period, upon return of the instrument to the licensee in good working order within the trial period. Should the order be canceled by purchaser prior to the delivery of the instrument, the licensee may retain the agreed-upon charges and fees as specified in the written contract. The purchaser shall receive the refund due no later than the 30th day after the date on which the purchaser cancels the order or returns the hearing instrument to the licensee.
J. Ethical
proscriptions:
(1) Licensed
individuals must not participate in activities that constitute a conflict of
interest.
(2) Licensed
individuals must not directly or indirectly give or offer to give money or
anything of value to any person who advises another person in a professional
capacity as an inducement to influence them or have them influence others to
purchase or contract to purchase products sold or offered for sale by the
licensee, or to refrain from dealing in the products of competitors.
K. Matters
of professional propriety:
(1) Licensed
individuals should not accept compensation for supervision or sponsorship from
a supervised or sponsored individual.
(2) Individuals
should present products they have developed to their colleagues in a manner
consonant with highest professional standards.
L. Principles
of ethics V: Licensed individuals shall
honor their responsibilities to the professions and their relationships with
members of allied professions.
M. Matters
of professional propriety:
(1) Licensed
individuals should seek to provide and expand services to persons with speech,
language and hearing handicaps as well as assist in establishing high
professional standards for such programs.
(2) Licensed
individuals should educate the public about speech, language and hearing
processes and handicaps, and matters related to professional competence.
(3) Licensed
individuals should strive to increase knowledge within the professions and
share research with colleagues.
(4) Licensed
individuals should establish harmonious relations with colleagues and members
of other professions and endeavor to inform members of the related professions
of services provided by speech-language pathologists, audiologists and hearing
aid dispensers.
(5) Licensed
individuals should assign credit to those who have contributed to a publication
in proportion to their contribution.
N. Principles
of ethics VI:
(1) Licensed
individuals shall uphold the dignity of the professions and freely accept the
professional self imposed standards.
(2) Licensed
individuals who have reason to believe that the Code of Ethics has been
violated shall inform the board.
(3) Licensed
individuals shall cooperate fully with the board in any investigation and
adjudication of matters of professional conduct related to this Code of Ethics.
O. Principles of
Ethics VII: Licensed audiologists and
hearing aid dispensers shall, at the time of the initial examination for
possible sale and fitting of a hearing aid if a hearing loss is determined,
inform each prospective purchaser about hearing aid options that can provide a
direct connection between the hearing aid and assistive listening systems in
accordance with the latest standards for accessible design adopted by the
United States department of justice in accordance with the federal Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended.
[8/4/1981; 8/4/1996;
11/9/1996; 11/7/1998; 16.26.9.8 NMAC - Rn & A, 16 NMAC 26.9.8, 2/3/2006; A,
06/07/2010; A, 1/10/2020]