Final answer:
A physician who retires without informing his patients could be charged with abandonment, which is the act of unfairly terminating the doctor-patient relationship without adequate notice or arranging for follow-up care.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a physician retires without notifying his patients, he could potentially be charged with abandonment. Abandonment in the medical field occurs when a physician terminates the doctor-patient relationship without reasonable notice or a reasonable excuse, and without providing the patient the opportunity to find a qualified replacement for the necessary medical care. This can result in harm to the patient due to a gap in necessary medical treatment.
While malpractice focuses more specifically on a professional's deviation from the standard of care in their field, leading to harm, and fraud involves deception that causes harm or loss to a person, abandonment is a distinct concept that deals with the premature termination of professional services. Negligence, on the other hand, implies a failure to take proper care in doing something, which can lead to unintended harm; however, abandonment can be an intentional act rather than just a failure to act with proper care.
It's important to note that concepts like moral hazard, adverse selection, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) pertain to health insurance, coverage, and systemic healthcare concerns rather than individual physician conduct. In a fee-for-service system, the physician is paid for each service rendered to the patient, but this economic model does not alleviate the responsibility to follow ethical guidelines that include proper patient notification upon retirement.