Have you ever asked yourself "Am I meeting best practice guidelines on informed patient consent?"
Freedom of choice is a basic human right and patients of today have increasingly higher expectations when it comes to planning for their medical procedures.
This requires healthcare professionals to include the process of shared decision making with their patients as they meet their obligation to obtain legally valid consent for any procedure they perform.
But consent is far more than just a signature on a form...
A clinicians duty of care requires that patients are given adequate information about the 'material risks to which a reasonable person in the patient's position would attach significance'.
To do this correctly, four core criteria must be met:
- the patient giving consent must have capacity
- the consent must be freely given
- the consent must be sufficiently specific to the procedure or treatment proposed
- the consent must be informed
This duty also extends to informed financial consent
whereby, clinicians are required to provide full disclosure of the cost of their patient's treatment, including an estimate of any gap fees payable.
However, time constraints can create inconsistencies in the information patients receive
With some patients afforded plenty of time to discuss their options while others may only be given a limited amount of time due to a backlog of patients in the clinician's waiting room.
This can have a negative impact on a patient's understanding of their proposed treatment
And can create a significant disconnect between what patients are told and what they hear, especially if they are from an english as a second language background or are highly anxious.
It's not surprising that many patients have a poor understanding of the risks involved in their procedure and frequently report feeling rushed to make decisions in the midst of a busy healthcare environment.
There has to be a better way, for both clinicians and patients.
A better process that avoids patient confusion and supports clinicians in meeting best practice ethical and legal standards for informed consent, while safeguarding their professional reputation.
MedConsent
has the solution
MedConsent is based on a natural evolution towards information technology, designed to assist you in meeting your patient’s specific needs.
As an online tool, MedConsent delivers procedure specific information directly to your patients
Our programme is built on peer-reviewed, medico-legally endorsed content that complies with government health literacy guidelines, with consideration also given to meet cultural, linguistic and sensory needs.
We include a separate section for informed financial consent, thus providing the complete solution to manage your full disclosure obligations.
MedConsent utilises a secure online and mobile-friendly programme
It allows your patients the opportunity to review their individualised procedure content, including material risks, whenever and wherever they choose.
The materials have been written by clinicians and reviewed by medico-legal experts to aid your patients in making the right decision to suit their particular circumstances.
In fact, a Cochrane review of 86 studies found that when patients use decision aids they:
a) improve their knowledge of the options;
b) are helped to have more accurate expectations of possible benefits and harms;
c) reach choices that are more consistent with their informed values; and
d) participate more in decision making.
The MedConsent system is interactive and can be accessed as often as needed
Your patients can ask you questions or raise concerns prior to their procedure and you can reply at a time that is convenient to your schedule.
You can both can access these records at any time, anywhere.
The MedConsent process is finalised when your patients signs their consent form with an electronic signature
This meets all legal requirements, with a record of the informed consent process then locked and permanently stored on our secure Australian server.
Our records are HL7 - Health Level 7 - compatible, which is the international standard used to transfer and share data between healthcare providers.
Trials have shown that MedConsent enhances the patient-doctor relationship
This is just a sample of the early patient feedback we have received:
"As someone who had never been exposed to anaesthetic, I felt confident as all procedures were explained and the team were very patient."
"Felt like I knew him for years. In fact, first op I’ve had where I’ve gone in so relaxed."
"It all went very well & explained things in a simple friendly manner."
"I felt extremely well prepared and reassured."