As a healthcare provider, your patient’s safety must be at the forefront of your practice. Patient consent forms ensure that you adhere to ethical and legal processes because they prove that patients have fully understood all the aspects of the procedure and that they acknowledge the risks involved.
This article will guide you through the best ways to obtain patient consent, especially using online forms.
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Understanding Patient Consent
Open patient-physician communication is one way of ensuring that your patients are comfortable and they feel safe. Before administering any medical procedure, you must walk them through the process from start to finish using simple language they can understand.
To obtain informed consent, you must explain the following:
- The procedure’s purpose, steps, and duration
- Any potential risks, side effects, or complications from the treatment
- The benefits of undergoing your proposed procedure
- Any available alternatives
- The consequences of declining treatment
Once the patient understands the above information, they can give their consent. It’s also vital that the patient knows that they can withdraw their consent at any given time and that their medical data will be treated with utmost confidentiality.
How To Get Patient Consent
There are four types of patient consent: verbal, written, implied, and proxy.
Implied consent happens when patient cooperation is needed for a procedure. For example, basic tests like routine blood tests, X-rays, and ultrasound scans require the patient’s participation so consent is already implied. It is not necessary to have a written consent form signed by the patient.
Meanwhile, verbal consent is generally accepted for minor procedures.
However, for more invasive procedures like surgery, you need to have proper documentation to show that your patients have consented. In this case, you need to provide a written consent form that your patient should sign.
When the patient is a minor or unable to consent, a legal or authorized guardian can give proxy consent.
To avoid any legal issues along the way, you should use a form for getting patient consent. The form should include all the basic information about the patient, the details of their procedure, confidentiality clauses, and a portion where involved parties can affix their signatures.
Key Elements of a Patient Consent Form
There are five key elements to a patient consent form:
- The consent form should state that the patient voluntarily agreed to undergo the procedure and that they were presented with the option to refuse treatment.
- It should explain the nature of the procedure as well as the duration and the corresponding processes to be done.
- The document should list the risks, possible side effects, and any discomfort patients may experience during and after the procedure.
- The benefits of the procedure and the expected outcome should be indicated in the written patient consent form.
- Finally, the consent form should list and explain alternative treatments.
How Can Fill Help With Obtaining Patient Consent?
When paper-based document management was the norm, physicians needed to produce multiple copies of consent forms for each patient. While this system worked, it overwhelmed many healthcare providers with the sheer number of documents they had to manage. There were also concerns over data security and HIPAA compliance.
Nowadays, you can use electronic consent forms instead.
To start digitizing patient consent forms, you need to equip yourself with the right tools. One that’s undoubtedly worth the investment is Fill. It is a feature-rich document-signing platform that allows you to sign documents, create electronic consent forms, and request electronic signatures.
Here are the benefits of using Fill for getting informed patient consent:
1. Streamline document processes
Obtaining patient consent using digital solutions reduces the inefficiencies that come with manual processing. For one thing, patients can conveniently sign documents using their electronic signature. Not only is it fast and easy but using eSignatures is safe and legally valid. Patients can sign the form simply by using their phones, tablets, or computers.
2. Cut down on costs
A lot of healthcare practitioners are hesitant to switch to a digital approach, thinking it’s quite an expense. The truth is, it is more expensive to keep on using a paper-based system. With online consent forms, you can reduce your operational expenses. You do not have to spend a considerable amount of money on printing and record keeping.
3. Safeguard important data
One of the main issues with a paper-based system is that it puts your patients’ data in such a vulnerable position. It’s so easy for unauthorized parties to access highly sensitive information when they’re printed out and left unsecured. Using digital consent forms ensures that protected health information (PHI) remains secure against cyber threats or breaches.
4. Improve patient outcome
Using electronic consent forms also benefits your patients. You can send them the document in advance so they have more than enough time to read through its contents. That way, if they have any further questions about the procedure or treatment, they can clarify them with you.
Digitize Patient Consent Forms with Fill Today
Fill offers a secure and efficient method of obtaining informed consent so you can gain patient trust and remain compliant with industry regulations.
Take advantage of the drag-and-drop visual editor where you can easily add fields to your form without using a single line of code. This helps you easily collect patient signatures and build the perfect form ensuring your patients are accurately aware of the terms they’re agreeing to.
Need inspiration and guidance? Fill offers customizable templates which you can adapt to your needs. You can even customize it to match your brand further increasing your practice’s credibility. Fill is mobile-friendly so your patients can access your forms on whatever device they’re using.
Finally, Fill is HIPAA-compliant and will even sign a BAA (Business Associate Agreement) with you. You’ll enjoy military-grade encryption for your data, track account activities with detailed audit logs, and get a document signifying Fill’s commitment to data privacy.
Make your first digital form for getting patient consent today. Get started with a free Fill trial.
