Hospital Consent Forms
HERSHEY (Dauphin Co.) A
survey of hospital consent forms
was found to be too complicated
for many patients to understand,
and not enough information was
provided to patients about the
planned procedure.
“You need at least a high school
education to understand most of
the forms. For about 25 percent of
the forms you would need several
years of college to properly com
prehend them,” says Kenneth
Hopper, M.D., professor of radio
logy at Penn State’s College of
Medicine and a physician with the
Penn State Geisinger Health Sys
tem. “Additionally with nine per
cent of the forms, you need educa
tion beyond college to fully under
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BLOOMSBURG
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Greenhill Farms Equip.
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stand the form.
“When people are sick and un
der stress, they tend to remember
less than they normally would
when healthy,” he adds. “These
forms are to help educate them
about the procedure they are going
to undergo along with the risks
and complications of the proce
dure. We found many of these
forms to be needlessly complex.”
Hopper and his colleagues
evaluated 616 consent forms from
hospitals around the country. The
forms were judged on a number of
different criteria including: gener
al and specific information on the
procedure, benefits and risks, al
ternatives and possible complica
tions.
FRANKLIN
Oakland Products
814-678-1101, 800-836-4261
FREEBURG
Glenn Beidler
800-774-0796
KITTANNING
W.C. Crytzer
Equipment Inc.
412-543-2441
LIBERTY
Bohnert Sales & Service
717-324-2431
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CM Nelderhiser Sales
724^23-4076,800-715-5586
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Triple H Equipment Inc.
717-548-3775,
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(Fax) 717-548-4079,
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PUNXSUTAWNEY
London Farm Supply
814-938-7444
SAXTON
Bob Wilkins
814-635-3392
WYALUSING
William Beebe
717-746-3435
JQQ Complicated Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 13, 1998-BIS
Their article. The Readability percent listed any specific altema-
Of Currently Used Surgical/Pro- tives to the planned procedure. In
cedure Consent Form In The addition, just over 30 percent
United States,” is published in the listed specific risks and only 21
May issue of the journal Surgery. percent listed risks of not having
‘The forms were not just too procedure at all.
complicated, but many simply did Hopper also says the forms
not provide enough specific in- should be seen as an educational
formation for patients. The best tool to complement the verbal
kind of form did require some consultation from the physician,
work on part of the physician to “Consent forms for the use of
complete. Those forms listed the anesthesia and blood transfusion
condition, treatment alternatives, „ should be separate from general
complications and other for each consent forms. These two things
individual patient,” adds Hopper, have their own set of complica-
While about 93 percent of the tions,” says the Penn State re
forms stated a general description searcher,
of the procedure, only six percent while 87 percent of the forms
listed the specific benefits of the asked for permission for anesthes
procedure. Approximately five ia, only 47 percent of those stated
1 that there were additional risks
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AUGUSTA
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MORGANTOWN
King & Sons Equipment
304-296-0180
The Hay Specialist.
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from the anesthesia itself and only
14 percent discussed the risks of
anesthesia. Only 28 percent of the
forms requested permission to
transfuse blood should it become
necessary.
Hopper says that all hospitals
should routinely reevaluate their
consent forms that are used. He
believes the use of lay people to
evaluate these forms for under
standing and comprehension
could be helpful for many facili
ties. It would take only a small
amount of time and very little cost
to make significant changes with
consent forms. Patients and fami
lies would be better served with
specific forms tailored to discuss
their individual procedures, he
notes.
MILK