Ethics in Occupational Therapy Practice

This course reviews foundational ethical concepts, professional values, the AOTA Code of Ethics, confidentiality, therapeutic boundaries, documentation integrity, competence, OTA supervision, billing honesty, disciplinary processes, and structured ethical decision-making. The course emphasizes practical application of ethics in everyday occupational therapy practice. Learners will examine common situations involving patient autonomy, safety concerns, family pressure, documentation accuracy, privacy, productivity expectations, supervision, and billing risk. Through case examples and knowledge checks, participants will strengthen their ability to recognize ethical concerns, apply ethical principles, document accurately, seek consultation when needed, and respond professionally to situations that may create clinical, legal, or compliance risk.

Learning Objectives

• Define Key Ethical Concepts: Differentiate ethics, morals, values, professional standards, and laws as they apply to occupational therapy practice.
• Identify Common Ethical Concerns: Recognize ethical issues involving patient safety, autonomy, privacy, documentation, competence, billing, and professional conduct.
• Describe Major Ethical Theories: Explain deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics, and ethics of care as frameworks for healthcare decision-making.
• Explain the AOTA Code of Ethics: Describe its purpose, structure, aspirational values, and enforceable standards of conduct.
• Apply Core Ethical Principles: Use beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, justice, veracity, and fidelity when evaluating occupational therapy case scenarios.
• Recognize Professional Boundary and Confidentiality Risks: Identify ethical concerns related to therapeutic relationships, professional boundaries, confidentiality, and the appropriate use of patient information.
• Explain Ethical Documentation Practices: Describe the importance of accurate, objective, and truthful documentation while recognizing the risks of copy-forward notes, templates, exaggerated skilled need, and inaccurate treatment time.
• Describe Competence and Scope of Practice: Explain how competence, scope of practice, service competency, and OT/OTA supervision support ethical and safe service delivery.
• Identify Billing and Documentation Risks: Recognize ethical and legal issues involving billing misrepresentation, false documentation, upcoding, billing for services not provided, and pressure to alter records.
• Differentiate Types of Professional Accountability: Distinguish between ethics complaints, employer discipline, licensing board actions, payer actions, civil liability, and criminal liability.
• Apply a Structured Ethical Decision-Making Process: Use the CELIBATE method and other ethical frameworks to analyze and resolve complex occupational therapy dilemmas.
• Respond Appropriately to Ethical Concerns: Demonstrate appropriate actions, including clarification, consultation, accurate documentation, reporting through proper channels, and implementing corrective measures when necessary.