Question

Rita, the assistant HIM director, is a member of the hospital-wide forms committee. This month, Ann, the risk manager, brings a new general consent form to the committee for approval. The consent form was generated and approved by the risk management committee. Neither Rita nor her director is a member of this committee. Part of the consent form directs patients to authorize disclosure of information to their insurance carrier and for general hospital operations. It is printed in much smaller print than the rest of the form and is difficult to read. Rita points this out to the committee and says that it almost as if the hospital does not want patients to know that their information may be used for all these other purposes. She things the print should be the same size as the rest of the form. Ann reddens slightly and says that there is so much information that there is not enough room on the form to use the same size print. She also points out that all of the disclosure purposes are posted on the admissions department walls. Brian, the materials manager, seems to agree with Ann, and says that they do not want to pay for printing a two-page form.

Utilizing your decision matrix, answer the following questions supporting your reasoning:

1. What are the ethical issues that Rita is being faced with?
2. How important is this for Rita to pursue this matter?
3. How is Rita advocating for the organization and the patient by questioning this document?

Answer 1

Answer: The ethical issues that Rita is being faced is the concern over the detailed information that should be provided to the patient but there not enough space to mention the Information accordingly and proper size.

It is important to pursue this matter because the major purpose of the informed consent is to provide details of the procedures of the treatment to the patient. It is necessary to make patient aware of the process and treatment which the patient will undergo and then the patient can sign on it.

So, obtaining the informed consent not only means that there should be patient's sign but also that patient have understood everything and agreed upon. Rita encouraged the staff to provide proper information that can be clearly visible to the patient. This will enable patient to ready each of the procedures mentioned.