Section 1465.95  Professional Conduct Standards

The Division may suspend or revoke a license, refuse to issue or renew a license or take other disciplinary action based upon its finding of "unethical, unauthorized, or unprofessional conduct" within the meaning of Section 16 of the Act, which is interpreted to include, but is not limited to, the following acts or practices:

a)         Practicing, condoning, facilitating, or otherwise being involved in, any form of discrimination. The licensee should act to prevent and eliminate discrimination against any person or group on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, national origin, marital status, political belief, mental or physical handicap, or any other preference or personal characteristic, condition or status;

b)         Engaging in any action that violates or diminishes the civil or legal rights of clients;

c)         Engaging in the sexual exploitation of clients, students or supervisees;

d)         Engaging in or condoning sexual harassment, which is defined as unwelcome deliberate or repeated comments, gestures or physical contacts of a sexual nature;

e)         Failing to offer all pertinent facts regarding services rendered to the client prior to administration of professional services.  The purpose of informed consent is to insure a client's complete access to information pertaining to professional services.  Examples include, but are not limited to, fees for services, length of treatment and utilization of consultants.  The client's signature indicating receipt of pertinent information is strongly encouraged;

f)         Failing to take appropriate steps to protect the privacy of a client and avoid unnecessary disclosures of confidential information;

g)         Performing, or pretending to be able to perform, professional services beyond one's scope of practice and one's competency;

h)         Failing to inform clients of the use of all experimental methods of treatment; safety precautions shall be adhered to by the licensee;

i)          Failing to establish and maintain client records;

j)          Deceptive, misleading or false representation.  Licensees must assert and imply only  credentials possessed and are responsible for correcting any misrepresentations of their credentials by others.  Credentials include highest relevant degrees, accreditation of graduate programs, national voluntary certifications, government-issued certifications or licenses, professional membership, or any other credential that might indicate to the public specialized knowledge or expertise in speech-language pathology or audiology;

k)         Submission of fraudulent claims for services to any person or entity including, but not limited to, health insurance companies or health service plans or third party payors;

l)          Knowingly providing services to a client when the licensee's ability to practice is impaired. Causes of impairment may include, but are not limited to, the abuse of mood altering chemicals and physical or mental problems;

m)        Permitting a student or supervisee under his/her supervision or control to perform, or permitting the student or supervisee to hold himself or herself out as competent to perform, services beyond the trainee's, intern's, or assistant's level of education, training and/or experience;

n)         Allowing the student or supervisee to violate the rights of clients, permitting a trainee to violate confidentiality standards or failing to ensure that the client is informed that he/she is being treated by a student or supervisee;

o)         Failing to inform prospective research subjects or their authorized representative fully of potential serious after effects of the research or failing to remove the after effects as soon as the design of the research permits;

p)         The Division hereby incorporates by reference the "Code of Ethics" of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2016), 2200 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850, and the "Code of Ethics" of the American Academy of Audiology (2018), 11730 Plaza American Dr., Suite 300, Reston, VA 20190, with no later amendments or editions.

(Source:  Amended at 44 Ill. Reg. 13072, effective August 7, 2020)