In short
Good Medical Practice requires honesty and integrity in all your professional dealings, including documents, reports, certificates and financial matters. Integrity concerns for doctors include inappropriate Medicare billing, false or misleading certificates and reports, dishonesty about qualifications, and undisclosed conflicts of interest. These are treated seriously because they go to trust, which is harder to rebuild than a clinical skill. Honesty during the notification process itself matters just as much. If an integrity concern is raised, take advice early and be scrupulously honest.
What does integrity mean for doctors?
Being honest and trustworthy in every part of your professional practice, not only in clinical care.
Good Medical Practice makes honesty and integrity fundamental to being a good doctor. It expects you to be honest and transparent in your dealings with patients, colleagues, employers, insurers and regulators, to ensure any documents you write or sign are accurate and not misleading, and to be honest in financial and commercial matters. Integrity, in short, is the expectation that your word, your signature and your claims can be relied on. Because so much of medicine runs on that trust, a breach of it is taken very seriously. For the overall process, see our guide to what happens after a notification to the Medical Board.
What counts as a dishonesty or integrity concern?
Any conduct involving deception, a false document, or misuse of position for improper gain.
- Inappropriate Medicare billing or claiming
- False or misleading certificates and reports
- Dishonesty about qualifications or registration
- Undisclosed conflicts of interest
- Research misconduct or falsified data
- Financial exploitation of a vulnerable patient
Some of these overlap with other concerns, such as documentation or prescribing, but what makes them integrity matters is the element of dishonesty rather than error. A skills gap can be addressed through education, but a breach of trust is far harder to rebuild, which is why these matters attract a more serious response.
How are Medicare and billing concerns treated?
Billing must reflect the service actually provided; inappropriate claiming can trigger both a compliance process and a notification.
In Australia, Medicare billing is governed by strict rules, and claiming must accurately reflect the service you personally provided and its clinical justification. Claiming for services not rendered, billing under an item that does not fit the service, or a pattern of inappropriate practice can be examined through the Medicare compliance and Professional Services Review processes, and can also lead to a notification to the Medical Board where honesty or safe practice is in question.
The line that matters
An honest billing error, corrected openly, is very different from a knowing or reckless pattern of inappropriate claiming. As with clinical records, the gravest step is not the original mistake but any attempt to conceal or misrepresent it.
If you become aware of a billing error, the safe course is to correct it and repay any amount owed promptly, rather than leave it. Good billing systems, accurate records that support each item, and a willingness to check when unsure are the best protection.
What about certificates and reports?
A medical certificate, medico-legal report or insurance report must be accurate and reflect your genuine clinical opinion.
Doctors sign a great many documents, and each one carries your professional integrity. Providing a medical certificate for a period you did not assess, writing a report that overstates or understates findings to suit a patient or a third party, or signing a document you know to be misleading, are all serious integrity concerns. The pressure to help a patient, or to satisfy an employer, insurer or lawyer, does not change the rule: a document you sign must be honest, based on your genuine assessment, and something you would be comfortable defending. A useful test before you sign anything is to ask whether you would be content for the Board to read it alongside your notes.
What about conflicts of interest?
You must recognise and manage conflicts of interest, and not let personal or financial interests compromise patient care.
Good Medical Practice asks you to recognise and disclose conflicts of interest and to act in your patients' best interests. Concerns arise where a financial interest, such as a referral arrangement, ownership of a facility you refer to, or an inducement, is not disclosed or appears to influence your care. Managing conflicts openly, disclosing them, and putting the patient's interests first is both the ethical and the safe course. An undisclosed conflict can look like dishonesty even where care was appropriate.
Why does honesty during the process matter?
Because being dishonest with the Board can be more serious than the original concern.
Honesty is essential when responding to any notification, not only an integrity one. Attempting to cover up, minimise dishonestly, or mislead the regulator can turn a manageable matter into a far more serious one, and can itself be treated as professional misconduct. If you made a mistake, including a dishonest one, the strongest path is to own it plainly, show genuine insight into why it was wrong, and evidence change. Boards respond far better to honest accountability than to a defence that unravels.
How should you respond, and how can CPD help?
Take advice, be scrupulously honest, show real insight into why trust matters, and evidence remediation.
Contact your medical defence organisation immediately, because these matters can be serious. With advice, prepare a reflective statement that shows you understand why honesty is fundamental to medicine, not just that you were caught, and evidence remediation, including CPD on financial integrity and, where relevant, steps that rebuild trust over time. Structured CPD on financial integrity and ethics, aligned with your CPD registration standard, gives dated evidence that you have taken the concern to heart. Browse the range of CPD for doctors.
Illustrative example
The concern: A doctor billed a Medicare item for a longer consultation than was actually provided, across a number of patients.
Acknowledge: The doctor accepts the claiming did not reflect the service given, and does not try to explain it away as a simple error.
Insight: They reflect honestly on how even small inaccuracies undermine trust in the profession and the health system.
Remediation: They complete CPD on financial integrity, repay the amount owed, correct their billing systems, and take concrete steps to rebuild trust.
Matched to integrity concerns
Courses for a dishonesty or integrity notification
Structured CPD chosen for honesty, financial integrity and rebuilding trust, to help you evidence insight and remediation. Independent CPD you can use as evidence of remediation.
Financial Integrity for Healthcare Professionals
- Directly targets the financial integrity concern
- Understand honest billing and dealings
- Evidence your recommitment to honesty
Rebuilding Trust of Patients, Public and the National Boards
- Show how you will rebuild trust over time
- Address the heart of an integrity concern
- Evidence a genuine, forward-looking plan
Ethics and Ethical Standards for Doctors
- Ground your response in medical ethics
- Show why honesty is fundamental to medicine
- Show the reasoning a Board looks for
How to Deal With a Notification or Investigation
- Understand each stage of the Board's process
- Know what to do, and what to avoid, early
- Respond calmly and well prepared
Frequently asked questions
Why is dishonesty treated more seriously than a clinical error?
Because a skills gap can be addressed through education, but a breach of trust is far harder to rebuild. Dishonesty goes to whether a doctor can be relied on, so integrity concerns often attract a more serious response.
What counts as an integrity concern for a doctor?
Conduct involving deception or a false document, such as inappropriate Medicare billing, false or misleading certificates and reports, dishonesty about qualifications, undisclosed conflicts of interest, research misconduct, or financial exploitation of a patient.
Can a billing error lead to a notification?
An honest error corrected openly is very different from a knowing or reckless pattern of inappropriate claiming. Inappropriate billing can be examined through Medicare compliance and Professional Services Review processes, and can lead to a notification where honesty is in question.
What should I do if I find a billing mistake?
Correct it and repay any amount owed promptly, rather than leaving it. Accurate records that support each item, good billing systems, and a willingness to check when unsure are the best protection against a billing concern.
Can I be reported over a medical certificate?
Yes. A certificate or report must be accurate and reflect your genuine assessment. Certifying a period you did not assess, or writing a report that misleads to suit a patient or third party, is a serious integrity concern regardless of good intentions.
Can being dishonest in my response make things worse?
Yes, significantly. Attempting to cover up or mislead the regulator can be treated as professional misconduct and is often more serious than the original concern. Honesty during the process is essential, and best done with advice.
Can trust be rebuilt after a dishonesty finding?
It can, but it takes genuine, demonstrated insight over time rather than words alone. Honest accountability, targeted CPD and concrete steps that show you understand why honesty matters are what help rebuild trust.
Does CPD help with an integrity notification?
Yes. CPD on financial integrity and ethics, aligned with your CPD registration standard, gives dated evidence that you understand the seriousness and have recommitted to honesty. It never guarantees an outcome, but insight is what counts most here.
Dr Richard
Course Facilitator
A practising clinician with over 21 years of experience and postgraduate training in healthcare law and ethics, so every course reflects both clinical reality and Australian regulatory standards.
Written and reviewed by Dr Richard. Last reviewed . Read full profile
AHPRA Courses is an independent training provider. Our courses are structured CPD that practitioners can use as evidence of remediation. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of Ahpra, the Medical Board of Australia, or any other regulator. Courses provide evidence of remediation and do not determine the outcome of any matter. This article is general information, not legal advice. If you have received a notification, seek advice from your medical defence organisation or a health law solicitor.