Confidentiality in The Healthcare Systems Discussion Questions

Initial Telepsychology Session for Free?

A) Dr. Larry Ellison, a psychologist colleague, contacts you about a marketing plan for his telepsychology services. He has over 1,000 followers on Twitter and a strong social media presence on Facebook. His plan is this: He wants to offer one free psychotherapy session to potential patients. He explains he is trying to promote his telepsychology practice and show that psychologists are open, friendly, and willing to help, potentially for free to get treatment started. The overarching goal is to develop a robust telepsychology practice.

Knowing the rules of his state, Dr. Ellison will make it clear that services are only available in the states that he is licensed. Dr. Ellison will use a HIPAA-compliant videoconferencing service. He is looking for general feedback, such as thoughts on a good marketing plan or any ethical concerns.

Upon hearing his plan, do you have any ethical concerns about this marketing plan?

What are some of the practical or potential pitfalls of this plan?

What are some of the overarching ethical principles involved in this decision?

What state laws would you consider to help make this decision?

B) Dr. Vanessa Ives works in a solo private practice. She has been working with Mr. Dorian Gray for several months for signs and

symptoms of depression. Mr. Gray comes to some sessions as emotionally intense, and high strung. Dr. Ives has considered the possibility that Mr. Gray suffers with some type of cyclic mood disorder.

As part of treatment, Mr. Gray admitted to experiencing anger management problems, to the point where he described physically intimidating his wife and pushing her down. They worked on anger management skills. Mr. Gray reported progress in this area.

Dr. Ives receives a phone message from Mr. Gray’s wife. In the voicemail, Mrs. Gray reports that Mr. Gray has become more physically intimidating and has starting to push her around. The voicemail indicated he has not caused her any significant harm. She requested a session to see Dr. Ives to explain what is happening between them. Dr. Ives only met Mrs. Gray informally while she sat in the waiting room before and after several sessions.

Dr. Ives wants to be helpful, but she is struggling with whether she should even return Mrs. Gray’s phone call. Dr. Ives has a personal history of being involved in a physically abusive relationship herself and is concerned about both the clinical and ethical issues involved regarding calling Mrs. Gray back.

Feeling uncomfortable about what is happening with this patient and his wife, Dr. Ives calls you for a professional consultation. She wants to make an appointment to talk with you candidly about her history as well as the dynamics of the current case.

What are the ethical issues involved in this case?

What are the pertinent clinical issues in this case?

How would you help Dr. Ives deal with her emotions related to this situation, given how her history relates to this patient and his wife?

Would you recommend Dr. Ives return the call or not?

What are some possible options should Dr. Ives return the phone call?

How much transparency would you suggest to Dr. Ives with Mr. Gray about the phone message?

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

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Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource