2.5 Conflict of Interest
Effective September 2015; Revised June 2022
Standard
A regulated member of ACSLPA identifies and manages all situations or circumstances of real, perceived, or potential conflict of interest to protect their professional integrity and the clients’ best interests.
Indicators
To demonstrate this standard, the regulated member will:
a) Identify situations that could lead to or be interpreted as a conflict of interest (e.g., potential for personal or financial gain), avoiding such conflicts whenever possible.
b) Manage real, perceived or potential conflict of interest situations through appropriate actions (e.g., disclosure, recusal) to minimize the impact.
c) In situations when conflicts of interest cannot be avoided or resolved, document a description of the situation, efforts to resolve the conflict and the outcome.
Expected Outcomes
Clients can expect the regulated member to provide services that are in their best interests, disclose conflicts of interest and offer possible options to resolve any conflicts.
Glossary
Client refers to “a recipient of speech-language pathology or audiology services, and may be an individual, family, group, community or population. An individual client may also be referred to as a patient.”
Conflict of interest refers to “a situation in which someone in a position of trust has competing professional and/or personal interests. Such competing interests can make it difficult to act impartially. A conflict of interest may exist even if no unethical or improper act results from it. A conflict of interest can undermine confidence in the person or the profession.”
Recusal refers to “the removal of oneself from participation (in an activity) to avoid a conflict of interest.”
Regulated member refers to “an individual who is registered with ACSLPA in any of the regulated categories of membership prescribed by ACSLPA Bylaws, the Health Professions Act and our Regulations.”