Summary
The advent of managed care has raised many ethical issues for social workers. These issues relate to social workers' ethical responsibilities to their clients in the areas of self-determination, informed consent, competence, conflicts of interest, privacy and confidentiality, and the interruption and termination of services. Using the newly revised Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers as a basis for discussion, this article identifies the issues and dilemmas facing social workers delivering services in a managed care environment. Formal and informal safeguards are provided for practitioners which will help them avoid ethical violations while protecting the integrity of their mental health treatment.