BCP BCP Ethical Principles & Patient Confidentiality 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A psychometrist discovers that a colleague has been sharing patient test scores with unauthorized staff members. What is the most appropriate first step?
- Confront the colleague publicly during a team meeting
- Report the breach to the supervising psychologist or compliance officer (Correct answer)
- Ignore it since the colleague may have had permission
- Post about the incident on social media to raise awareness
Correct answer: Report the breach to the supervising psychologist or compliance officer
Ethical obligations require reporting confidentiality breaches through proper supervisory or compliance channels.
Question 2: Under what circumstance is a psychometrist legally permitted to break patient confidentiality without consent?
- When a family member requests test results
- When the patient poses an imminent danger to themselves or others (Correct answer)
- When a coworker asks for information to complete their own report
- When the patient has missed multiple appointments
Correct answer: When the patient poses an imminent danger to themselves or others
Duty to warn or protect applies when there is an imminent threat of harm to the patient or identifiable third parties.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes the principle of informed consent as it applies to psychometric testing?
- The patient must sign a form before any medical procedure
- The patient must be told the purpose, nature, and potential uses of the assessment before testing begins (Correct answer)
- The psychometrist must obtain consent from the referring physician only
- Informed consent is only required for minors
Correct answer: The patient must be told the purpose, nature, and potential uses of the assessment before testing begins
Informed consent requires that patients understand the purpose, procedures, and how results will be used before agreeing to participate.
Question 4: A psychometrist is asked by a patient's employer to release cognitive test results. The patient has not signed a release. What should the psychometrist do?
- Send the results since the employer is paying for the assessment
- Decline and explain that a signed release from the patient is required (Correct answer)
- Provide a verbal summary instead of written results
- Send only partial results to satisfy the request
Correct answer: Decline and explain that a signed release from the patient is required
Protected health information cannot be disclosed to third parties without the patient's written authorization.
Question 5: Which ethical principle requires a psychometrist to administer only those tests for which they have received adequate training?
- Beneficence
- Competence (Correct answer)
- Autonomy
- Fidelity
Correct answer: Competence
The principle of competence mandates that practitioners only perform services within the boundaries of their education, training, and supervised experience.
Question 6: A psychometrist notices that a standardized test protocol has a cultural bias that may disadvantage a specific patient population. What is the most ethical course of action?
- Administer the test anyway since it is the standard protocol
- Document the concern and discuss alternative or supplemental measures with the supervising psychologist (Correct answer)
- Modify the test questions independently to remove the bias
- Refuse to administer any tests until new protocols are developed
Correct answer: Document the concern and discuss alternative or supplemental measures with the supervising psychologist
Ethical practice requires identifying potential biases and collaborating with supervisors to ensure fair and valid assessment for all patients.
BCP BCP Ethical Principles & Patient Confidentiality 2
A psychometrist discovers that a colleague has been sharing patient test scores with unauthorized staff members.
What is the most appropriate first step?