![]() ![]() 11 The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) explicitly recommends having a chaperone attend genital, rectal, and breast exams of adolescent patients but also recommends using shared decision making if the patient is old enough. 3 The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends, in part, accommodating patient requests for a chaperone, regardless of the physician's gender. The AMA Code of Ethics recommends, in part, notifying patients about chaperone guidelines and always honoring a patient's request to have a chaperone. In any event, it appears the intended use was to protect the interests of both patients and physicians.Īlthough a number of associations and government bodies have attempted to centralize recommendations on this topic, these guidelines are often ambiguous and conflicting. ![]() 3 The addition of medical chaperones to the patient encounter coincided with increasing rates of medical litigation in the United States, 4 although it is unclear that this was the catalyst. 1, 2 Currently, the American Medical Association (AMA) says any authorized member of the health care team can serve as a medical chaperone as long as there are clear expectations to uphold professional standards of privacy and confidentiality. References to medical chaperones began to appear in the literature in the 1970s and 1980s, with varying connotations and differing role descriptions. In family medicine, we are taught to be sensitive to patient modesty when providing a thorough physical exam, but best practices for chaperoned exams are unclear at best. I have been in medical practice for only a few years, but I have already lost count of how many times I've asked that question of my nursing staff.
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