In any case, the physician cannot obstruct such access. Provide whatever appropriate assistance you can to any person with an urgent need for medical care. Having accepted professional responsibility for a patient, continue to provide services until they are no longer required or wanted, until another suitable physician has assumed responsibility for the patient, or until the patient has been given adequate notice that you intend to terminate the relationship. Termination of care cannot occur for an improper purpose such as noted elsewhere in the Code. Communication, Decision-Making and Consent Provide your patients with the information they need to make informed decisions about their medical care, and answer their questions to the best of your ability.
Informed consent requires good communication.
Recommend only those diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that you consider to be beneficial to your patient or to others. If a procedure is recommended for the benefit of others, as for example in matters of public health, inform your patient of this fact and proceed only with explicit informed consent or where required by law. Such procedures still require informed consent, unless required by law. Respect the right of a competent patient to accept or reject any medical care recommended. Recognize the need to balance the developing competency of children and the role of families in medical decision-making.