Garbage Consent Forms

[nradsoit3]

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Anyone else sick and tired of these? Why are these forms SOOOOOOOOO needlessly long detailing every possible complication. What's the point? If anything, I think it gives the patient more bad things to look for and sue you over. If anything goes wrong your screwed anyway. What a friggin waste of paper, ink and time! The following form will do if you ask me:

"I consent to have a👎 __________."

That way you supposedly cover yourself for winding up in jail for "assault" or "manslaughter" (Good grief!)

 

[angel80]

My hospital's consent forms are like that. They are generic. You basically fill in the name of the procedure and the doc doing procedure. As you have the patient sign the form, you are supposed to go over the possible complications with them, but the form itself is pretty simple.

Anyone else sick and tired of these? Why are these forms SOOOOOOOOO needlessly long detailing every possible complication. What's the point? If anything, I think it gives the patient more bad things to look for and sue you over. If anything goes wrong your screwed anyway. What a friggin waste of paper, ink and time! The following form will do if you ask me:

"I consent to have a👎 __________."

That way you supposedly cover yourself for winding up in jail for "assault" or "manslaughter" (Good grief!)

 

[doctawife]

We have both kinds of consent form - the consent for blood lists every complication including HIV infection, hepatitis, transfusion reaction, death and fever. Which is fine... but the risk of all of the above is WAY less than the risk of Daughter Dearest dying when her Hb is five. Just gets in my way. Mostly 'cause even if the parents refuse, I'm just gonna call CPS and give the blood anyway.

Then the surgery consent forms are generic and basically talk about 'death, infection and bleeding'. Nothing else. Yargh.

 

[Smurfette]

Actually, if you write on the consent form that you discussed certain risks and complications, it makes it more difficult to be sued and lose for malpractice since it proves that the pt and or family was told that x, y, z were risks of the surgery. Often malpractice cases involve the family arguing they didn't know X was a known risk of surgery or that their family member was high-risk for MI or CVA.

Not that this will stop you from getting sued, and if you do something wrong in caring for the pt, it doesn't protect you at all, BUT documenting risks discussed prior to a procedure will help protect you somewhat from getting sued for known complications or from the family/patient claiming "non-disclosure of risks".

 

[PediBoneDoc]

about 3-4 times a year i have to bring up with my residents what informed consent is and why it is important .... and about 2 times a year i have to remind some of the power hungry policy nurses that the consent in the chart is not informed consent ... it is a form that prevents us from being sued for battery ... so i will use this a s time to educate those who are unaware of the actual legal definition of informed consent

from the actual AMA website: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/4608.html

In the communications process, you, as the physician providing or performing the treatment and/or procedure (not a delegated representative), should disclose and discuss with your patient:

• The patient's diagnosis, if known;
• The nature and purpose of a proposed treatment or procedure;
• The risks and benefits of a proposed treatment or procedure;
• Alternatives (regardless of their cost or the extent to which the treatment options are covered by health insurance);
• The risks and benefits of the alternative treatment or procedure; and
• The risks and benefits of not receiving or undergoing a treatment or procedure.

In turn, your patient should have an opportunity to ask questions to elicit a better understanding of the treatment or procedure, so that he or she can make an informed decision to proceed or to refuse a particular course of medical intervention.

many people say that this is a a lot to discuss and may be in a trauma situation it is ... i do elective scoliosis surgery .... for me they 30 min preoperative discussion is extremely important ... it allows me to completely discuss all of the risks and alternatives .... we discuss hospital stay, expected outcomes, and post op follow-up ... it is not a wasted visit because a clinic visit can also be billed based on time ... so please don't take consent likely ... documentation is key ... and that generic hospital for does not cover you ...

some legal definitions:
Assault as an attempt to commit a battery.
Battery is a involves an injury or other contact upon the person of another in a manner likely to cause bodily harm.