Improving the Informed Consent Process
If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of cancer patients receiving medical treatment in US hospitals each year, or a caregiver designated to handle their legal affairs, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the process of filling out forms.
These days, forms are such a routine part of the treatment process that most facilities ask patients to check-in at least 20-30 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment just to complete paperwork.
Along with all the various HIPAA notices, medical histories, patient instructions, and insurance claims requiring your signature, there are legal releases commonly referred to as Informed Consent forms. These important items provide detailed information about the procedure being performed, possible side effects, and the specific risks involved. Additionally, the forms give the medical professional the patient’s permission to perform the procedure being described.
Sounds like important information doesn’t it? Unfortunately, statistics show that many people don’t read or can’t understand their Informed Consent forms before signing them.
Patients give a lot of reasons for signing a legal/medical form they don’t understand: complex medical jargon, inadequate English or reading skills, time constraints, poor vision, fatigue, confusion and embarrassment are some of the more common justifications. To address these issues, several hospitals have begun testing new methods that will allow administrators to improve the informed consent process while still satisfying regulatory requirements.
While some hospitals are tackling the problem with back-to-basics approaches like paper checklists, others are turning to technology for help.
At 154 hospitals operated by the Veterans Health Administration, a program called iMedConsent™ features a library of anatomical diagrams and explanations written at a sixth-grade reading level. The program not only helps doctors explain difficult procedures to patients, it also electronically documents the conversation and records the patient’s signature on a digital pad like the ones found in retail stores.
Other hospitals have adopted a similar web-based program called Emmi®. With Emmi®, patients review the interactive tutorials at home and then ask their physician follow-up questions prior to giving consent or having surgery.
Besides educating the patient about complex surgeries and terminology, the new programs also help providers standardize the information they give to their patients. The software prompts physicians to ask certain questions and cover certain topics so memory lapses or distractions don’t result in missed dialogue.
New guidelines issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and recommendations from influential healthcare consumer groups will likely generate more changes to informed consent policies around the country. The improvements can be difficult to implement, but professionals and patients alike seem to agree they are necessary. As one American Medical Association publication puts it,
“…the patient’s right of self-decision can be effectively exercised only if the patient possesses enough information to enable an intelligent choice.”
Source: AMNews.com
Related Links: ScienceDaily.com; AOL.com; anemiainstitute.org; calpatientguide.org
Related Video: Informed Consent from the University of Michigan
Related Podcast: Onora O’Neill on Medical Consent on Philosophy Bites from PODCASTDIRECTORY.COM
Tags: health literacy; patient advocacy; liability reform; DialogMEDICAL
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