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Virginia Administrative Code
Title 18. Professional And Occupational Licensing
Agency 85. Board of Medicine
Chapter 170. Regulations Governing the Practice of Genetic Counselors
7/27/2025

18VAC85-170-150. Practitioner-patient communication; termination of relationship.

A. Communication with patients.

1. Except as provided in § 32.1-127.1:03 F of the Code of Virginia, a practitioner shall accurately present information to a patient or the patient's legally authorized representative in understandable terms and encourage participation in decisions regarding the patient's care.

2. No practitioner shall deliberately withhold pertinent findings or information or make a false or misleading statement regarding the practitioner's skill or the efficacy or value of a medication, treatment, or procedure provided or directed by the practitioner in the treatment of any disease or condition.

3. When a genetic or diagnostic test is recommended, documented informed consent shall be obtained from the patient in accordance with the policies of the health care entity and consistent with the standard of care.

4. Practitioners shall adhere to requirements of § 32.1-162.18 of the Code of Virginia for obtaining informed consent from patients prior to involving those patients as subjects in human research, with the exception of retrospective chart reviews.

B. Termination of the practitioner-patient relationship.

1. The practitioner or the patient may terminate the relationship. In either case, the practitioner shall make the patient record available, except in situations where denial of access is allowed by law.

2. No practitioner shall terminate the relationship or make the practitioner's services unavailable without documented notice to the patient that allows for a reasonable time to obtain the services of another practitioner.

Statutory Authority

§§ 54.1-2400 and 54.1-2957.18 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 33, Issue 19, eff. June 14, 2017; amended, Virginia Register Volume 37, Issue 25, eff. September 1, 2021; Volume 41, Issue 20, eff. July 3, 2025.

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