Ethical marketing: A needed conversation

At the annual conference of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers this May, I will be moderating a panel discussion on ethical marketing practices in the addiction treatment field. The panel was originally intended to focus on marketing best practices, but NAATP requested we focus specifically on ethics given the association’s increasing emphasis on this topic.

This certainly will be an engaging conversation. Providers are facing pressure from within and outside the field to address practices that may not only be unethical, but criminal. Payments to interventionists, transparency in marketing programs, and honest discussions with families and patients about what insurance will--and will not pay--are among the issues the panelists will discuss. I welcome your input in the comments section below on other topics that should be addressed during the discussion.

Parity and the Affordable Care Act open up the field to more reimbursement opportunities. But with those dollars comes greater scrutiny, and we all know there are treatment providers whose marketing practices are damaging to the entire field. At the same time, however, there are many gray areas in which the right direction is not as clear cut. This panel discussion, and continuing dialogue within organizations and at the national level, is essential to ensure that the addiction treatment field is on sound ethical footing as it becomes a greater component of the overall healthcare system.