PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Appel, Jacob M TI - Engagement without entanglement: a framework for non-sexual patient–physician boundaries AID - 10.1136/medethics-2021-107580 DP - 2023 Jun 01 TA - Journal of Medical Ethics PG - 383--388 VI - 49 IP - 6 4099 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/49/6/383.short 4100 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/49/6/383.full SO - J Med Ethics2023 Jun 01; 49 AB - The integrity of the patient–physician relationship depends on maintaining professional boundaries. While ethicists and professional organisations have devoted significant consideration to the subject of sexual boundary transgressions, the subject of non-sexual boundaries, especially outside the mental health setting, has been largely neglected. While professional organisations may offer guidance on specific subjects, such as accepting gifts or treating relatives, as well as general guidance on transparency and conflict of interest, what is missing is a principle-based method that providers can use to assess non-sexual interactions with patients that transcend norms of practice. This paper attempts to offer an operational model for such assessment that considers not only the traditional emphasis on beneficence, but also incorporates concerns over entanglement and concordance.