Person or persons responsible for administering a retirement plan.
Relating to or founded upon a trust or confidence. A fiduciary relation exists where an individual or organization has an explicit or implicit obligation to act in behalf of another person’s or organization’s interests in matters which affect the other person or organization. A physician has such a relation with his patient and a hospital trustee with a hospital. Because a fiduciary relationship with a provider obligates one to act in the interests of the provider, people with such relationships are defined as providers, rather than as consumers, for such purposes as determining whether a health systems agency governing board has a consumer majority.
A person who has a legal duty, created by his or her undertaking, to act primarily for the benefit of another or others in matters connected with the undertaking. The fiduciary owes a higher duty of care than a person acting only for his or her own benefit. Guardians, trustees, directors, and executors are traditional fiduciaries. Also, as managed care takes hold, and an intermediary (managed care plan or insurance company, for in¬ stance) makes decisions concerning an individual’s access to medical care, it is becoming clear that the intermediary is a fiduciary and must act in the best interests of the patient. It must be noted that courts have traditionally been very protective of those to whom a fiduciary duty is owed, so a “breach” of that duty can have very serious consequences.