# Brightside Clinician Conduct Guidelines

## Section I
Brightside clinicians who engage in behaviors that demonstrate poor clinical judgment and impact member treatment and care may be **terminated immediately** upon review by the Clinical Leadership Team.

Engaging in acts of gross incompetence or gross negligence on a single occasion, or negligence or incompetence on more than one occasion (it is possible there was no previous warning) that may be grounds for immediate termination. Such acts include, but are not limited to:

- Sexual Harassment
- Any instance of discrimination based on age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, or any basis proscribed by law.
- Member abandonment and neglect, including the failure in making reasonable arrangements for the continuation of treatment during interruptions such as vacations, illness, and following termination.
- Clinician behavior that seriously impairs the delivery of professional care, including but not limited to intoxication during session, vaping during session, conducting appointments while operating a vehicle, etc.
- Breaches of confidentiality, which includes conducting an appointment in a public location, violations of HIPAA, and instances where no reasonable efforts were made to ensure confidentiality.
- Performing unauthorized services.
- Practicing beyond the scope of the profession/license.
- Failure to abide by all relevant mandated reporting laws in the state of practice, which may include instances of child/elder abuse or intimate partner violence. This includes failure to make reasonable efforts to request consultation from leadership/peers around issues pertaining to abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and failure to report active suicidality.
- For therapists: Use of non-evidence-based approaches identified by regulatory bodies (i.e., American Psychological Association) as harmful (e.g. Sexual Orientation Change Efforts or Gender Identity Change Efforts).
- Canceling Brightside appointments to provide professional services for an outside entity (i.e., private practice patients).
- Failure to document risk in the member’s chart and/or failure to ensure member safety according to Brightside guidelines for managing safety/risk concerns.
- Any behavior or action, intentional or not, that demonstratively harms a member or puts a member’s well-being at risk.
- Engaging in insurance fraud, which includes billing for sessions that did not happen or not reporting accurate time spent with a member during a billable visit.

**Under such situations, Brightside reserves the right and may be required to report unlawful and/or unethical practices to corresponding governing accreditation institutions.**

## Section II
Brightside clinicians who demonstrate a pattern of engaging in any of the following behaviors may be provided a **warning and require corrective action**. Subsequent demonstration of these behaviors could then result in termination upon review by the Clinical Leadership Team. The leadership team reserves the right to conduct chart reviews at any point to ensure quality of care.

- More than two complaints about a therapist’s ethical and professional clinical services.
- An established pattern of no shows or late cancellations (with less than 24 hours notice).
- Not having camera on during sessions.
- An established pattern of inability to complete case notes in a timely manner and failure to meet charting requirements.
- An established pattern of being unresponsive to members (e.g. not messaging back to members in a timely fashion) and/or to Brightside staff members.
- An established pattern of being unresponsive to the clinical leadership team when they request improvement in clinical service delivery or documentation.
- Excessive requests for reassignment of members.

### Compliance
Compliance with this policy is the expectation for employment with Brightside and is reflective of relevant laws and ethical principles applicable to the provision of mental health services.

### Exceptions
There are no exceptions to this policy.

### Non-Compliance
Clinicians who demonstrate any of the aforementioned behaviors will be held to the applicable consequences attributed to those infractions.

### 741-741
If you’re in emotional distress, text HOME to connect with a counselor immediately.

### 988
Call or text the [988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline](https://988lifeline.org/chat/ "988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline") for 24/7 emotional support.

### 911
If you’re having a medical or mental health emergency, call 911 or go to your local ER.