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April, 2012
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 Conduct Matters
Thanks but no thanks – the gift policy explained

I recently returned from a trip abroad where a colleague and I, each from separate departments, had been sent to provide follow-up treatment for a patient. Upon our departure, the patient’s family handed each of us an envelope. On the plane home, we opened them to find $10,000 in cash. When I mentioned that I would report the gift and hand over $7500 of the $10,000 to my department administrator, my colleague looked surprised. He said there was no such rule in his department and he was sure he could keep the entire amount. I thought the gift policy applied to all faculty at the SOM, so what’s going on?

The policy on gifts in the Code of Professional Conduct for Faculty states, “Faculty must refrain from accepting personal gifts without disclosure when the gift is directly or indirectly related to activity performed in one’s capacity as a faculty member. Faculty may receive up to $2,500 of a personal gift, but any remainder must be directed to departmental accounts as designated by the department director.”

Beginning in January 2011, new billing procedures were adopted for SOM faculty providing clinical services outside of the United States. These procedures are administered through Johns Hopkins International (JHI); faculty members traveling to countries outside of the United States to provide care to in-country patients are no longer tasked with billing for these clinical services.

Besides handling the billing, JHI arranges travel and executes a rider so the physician is covered by malpractice insurance while abroad. The resulting clinical revenue is handled according to departmental policy and any money or items of value received by faculty directly from those patients or patients’ families in the course of providing clinical care is considered a gift.

Each SOM department was asked to adopt a uniform, transparent policy for distribution of gifts valued over $2,500. If you are unsure of the policy adopted by your department, consult your department director or administrator. Whatever policy has been adopted must be followed by all members of the department when gifts are received.

Faculty can disclose gifts using eOPC, the electronic disclosure system. To disclose a gift over $2,500:

  1. Login to http://e-opc.jhmi.edu
  2. Enter your JHED ID and password.
  3. Click on the green button “New Gift Disclosure,” on the left side of the screen.
  4. Complete the very brief online form.
  5. Click “Finish.”
  6. Click on the green arrow or “Submit” to complete your disclosure.

For more information, read the code of conduct or contact Sheila Garrity, director of the division of research integrity, at sgarrity@jhmi.edu.

 
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