The profession of hearing-aid acoustician is governed by several laws, including the Professional Code, the Act respecting hearing-aid acousticians and the Code of ethics of hearing-aid acousticians. The Act defines the practice of the profession as any act that has as its object the sale, fitting, fitting or replacement of hearing aids. These procedures can only be performed on the basis of a certificate from a doctor, speech therapist or audiologist attesting to the need for a hearing aid.
Disciplinary complaint for breach of ethics
As a hearing-aid acoustician, you are subject to ethical obligations set out in the Professional Code and the Code of Ethics of Hearing-Aid Acousticians. When your order accuses you of having contravened your professional obligations, you can face an ethics recourse. The syndic of the Ordre des audioprothésistes du Québec is responsible for protecting the public by ensuring that there is no inappropriate or unethical practice of the profession. To do so, the auditor may conduct an investigation into a hearing-aid acoustician, either when requested or on his or her own initiative, if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that the hearing-aid acoustician has breached his or her ethical obligations. If he concludes that this is the case, he will file a complaint against you with the Disciplinary Council. As the profession of hearing aid acoustician is strictly regulated, it can be complex to navigate through your rights, duties and obligations. At Lambert Lawyers, we support you and defend the interests of hearing care professionals in the event of disciplinary proceedings brought by the Ordre des audioprothésistes du Québec. Don’t face the disciplinary process alone. Contact us today for specialized legal assistance in disciplinary law.
Duties and obligations of the hearing care professional
As a hearing care professional, you are subject to several obligations, some common to all professions, others specific to yours. It is the violation of one or more of these obligations that will lead the syndic to open an investigation and file a complaint. Thus, you are not only required to comply with the various laws and regulations to which you are subject, but to take reasonable measures to ensure that the people who collaborate with you in the exercise of your professional activities, including, if applicable, the company in which you work, also comply with them. In the practice of your profession as a hearing aid acoustician, you are subject to different types of duties: duties to the public, duties to your patient and duties to the profession. Let’s analyze some of these duties.
Duties to the public
Since your profession directly affects the public, you have certain obligations to the public. First, you must, except for valid reasons, support any measure that could improve the quality and availability of professional services provided by hearing care professionals. You also have an active role to play in promoting education and information measures in the field in which you practice, in order to contribute to the development of your profession. Finally, in the practice of your profession, you must take into account all the foreseeable consequences that your research and work may have on society.
Duties to the client
Duty of integrity
As a hearing care professional, you must act with integrity at all times , which first and foremost implies a duty of competence towards your patient. Consequently, you must act in accordance with the limits of your skills, your knowledge and the means at your disposal: you must avoid any misrepresentation as to your level of competence or as to the effectiveness of your services and those generally provided by members of the profession. If the patient’s best interests so require, you must, with the patient’s permission, consult with or refer the patient to any other competent person. In addition, you must refrain from practising in circumstances or conditions that are likely to compromise the quality of your practice or from practising the profession according to the principles of hearing aids that are not generally accepted and recognized. This duty of integrity also manifests itself in an obligation to be transparent with your patient, in particular by informing him or her of the terms and nature of the professional service that is required, in order to obtain his or her consent to the service. In addition, you must explain to your patient in a clear and objective manner the nature and consequences of his or her problem, while giving him or her complete and coherent advice, as well as the explanations necessary to understand and appreciate the services rendered. In addition, you must inform your patient of the status of his or her file when he or she requests it, and inform him or her of any illegal act likely to benefit him or her and of which you have become aware while providing him or her with professional service. Finally, you must inform your patient of the approximate cost of your services, providing him with all the explanations necessary to understand your statement of fees and the terms of payment. Naturally, the fees you request and accept must be fair and reasonable, justified by the circumstances and proportionate to the services rendered.
Termination of services
As a hearing care professional, you must always be available and exercise due diligence . Thus, you cannot stop acting on behalf of a patient, except for a good and reasonable reason, such as:
- Loss of patient trust;
- The fact that you are either in a conflict of interest situation or in a context where your professional independence could be questioned;
- Incitement by the patient to perform illegal, unjust or fraudulent acts.
If you cease to act, you must first give reasonable notice of the termination and ensure that the termination of service is not detrimental to your patient.
Duty of independence and disinterestedness
As a professional who provides services, it is important that you establish and maintain a relationship of mutual trust with your patient, including practicing in an impersonal manner, respecting your patient’s scale of values and personal beliefs, and refraining from interfering in their personal affairs that are not related to the practice of your profession. At all times, your patient’s best interests must come before yours. This is why, in order to safeguard your professional independence, you must prevent and avoid any conflict of interest, i.e. any situation where your personal interests could prevail over those of your patient, and your judgment and loyalty to the patient could be adversely affected. In such a situation, you must use your judgment, notify your patient, and cease your professional activities, unless you obtain your client’s written consent to continue to practice. Finally, in order to continue to practise with disinterestedness, you must refrain from receiving or paying, in addition to the remuneration to which you are entitled, any benefit, rebate or commission relating to the practice of his profession.
Duty of confidentiality
As a hearing-aid acoustician, you are bound by professional secrecy : you must refrain from revealing any confidential information obtained in the practice of your profession, unless authorized by law or your client. This means that you must, among other things:
- Refrain from disclosing that someone has used your services when doing so is likely to cause harm to that person;
- Avoid prying conversations about a patient and the services provided to them;
- Not to use confidential information to the prejudice of a patient or to obtain a benefit, directly or indirectly;
- Take reasonable steps to ensure that any person with whom you carry out your professional activities respects professional secrecy.
However, solicitor-client privilege may be breached in order to prevent an act of violence, such as suicide, when there is an imminent danger of death or serious injury to an identifiable person or group of persons. If you disclose confidential information in such a case, you must, for each communication, record in the patient’s record as soon as possible:
- the identity of the person or group of persons exposed to the danger;
- the reasons for the decision to disclose the information;
- the purpose of the communication, the method of communication used, the name of the person or persons who received the communication, and the date and time it was made
You must also send this information to the property manager as soon as possible.
Duties to the profession
Incompatible functions
If you practise as a hearing-aid acoustician, certain professions are prohibited, in particular to prevent conflicts of interest that could arise from a dual practice. Indeed, since as a hearing aid acoustician, your actions can only be performed on the certificate of a doctor, a speech therapist or an audiologist, you cannot practice these professions. In addition, the profession of hearing-aid acoustician is incompatible with the functions of remedial teacher and audiometry technician.
Derogatory acts
As a hearing care professional, you represent the image of the profession in the eyes of the public. You must therefore refrain from committing acts that derogate from the dignity of the profession that could devalue it. Derogatory acts are provided for in the Professional Code and the Code of Ethics of Hearing-Aid Acousticians. For example, an act of derogation is the following:
- Urge or repeatedly to use your professional services;
- To abuse your patient’s inexperience, ignorance, naivety or poor health;
- Failing or refusing, without good cause, to answer the patient’s telephone calls or to return the patient’s telephone calls;
- Offering a used or remade hearing aid without notifying the patient;
- Imply or imply that you are offering to the public, on an exclusive basis, a brand of hearing aids, or pieces of equipment used for the testing, fitting, fitting, manufacturing or repair of hearing aids.
In addition, in order to maintain a relationship of mutual trust with your patients, you must refrain, for the duration of the professional relationship that is established with the person to whom you provide services, from abusing that relationship to have sexual relations with that person, from engaging in abusive acts of a sexual nature or from making abusive comments of a sexual nature. which also constitutes an act derogating from the dignity of the profession.
advertising
As the advertising of hearing care professionals is highly regulated by your Code of Ethics, you must ensure that it is compliant. In particular, you must refrain from making or allowing to be made false, misleading, incomplete or misleading advertising, and avoid in your advertising all methods and attitudes likely to give your profession a lucrative and commercial character. You may not, in your advertising, attribute to yourself any particular qualities or abilities that you do not possess, or denigrate or devalue in any way a colleague or the services he or she offers. Also, you must keep a complete copy of any advertisement in its original form for a period of 12 months following the date of the last broadcast or publication and, upon request, give this copy to the syndic.
Professional Reports
Finally, in your dealings with your professional order, your colleagues and any other professional, you must demonstrate active collaboration, good faith and loyalty, while respecting your professional independence.
Sanctions
If you are found guilty of the offences of which you are accused, the Disciplinary Council will impose one or more of the following sanctions on you:
- A reprimand;
- Temporary or permanent removal from the roll of the Order, even if you have ceased to be registered since the date of the offence;
- A fine;
- The obligation to give to any person to whom it is due an amount of money that you hold or should hold for them;
- The obligation to disclose a document or any information contained therein, and the obligation to complete, delete, update or correct such document or information;
- Revocation of your licence to practise;
- A limitation or suspension of your right to engage in professional activities.
A disciplinary prosecution can lead to stress, inconvenience and a lot of questions for any hearing care professional. We are not unaware of the repercussions that this can have on your personal and professional life. If you are the subject of a disciplinary complaint by the Ordre des audioprothésistes du Québec, don’t let the situation escalate. Contact us as soon as possible and benefit from an effective defense adapted to your situation in order to protect your rights and your career.