Table 2.
Health Care Professionals’ Perspectives on Use of Informed Consent Best Practices
| Always or Usually Used the Following Best Practices | Clinician Self-Report of Practices (n = 20) | Clinician Report on Other Clinicians’ Practices (n = 20) | HCP Report on Clinicians’ Practices (n = 222) | Difference Between Clinician Self-Report & Report on Other Clinicians’ Practices | Difference Between Clinician Self-Report & HCP Report on Clinicians’ Practices |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assess patient’s decision-making capacity | 95.0 | 90.0 | 77.4 | −5.0 | −17.6 |
| Allocate ample time in private space. | 95.0 | 80.0 | 66.5 | −15.0 | −28.5* |
| Use health literacy universal precautions. | 70.0 | 65.0 | 57.8 | −5.0 | −12.2 |
| Call for qualified interpreter when patient speaks a different language. | 95.0 | 85.0 | 71.2 | −10.0 | −23.8† |
| Offer choices, including the option of doing nothing. | 95.0 | 80.0 | 61.8 | −15.0 | −33.2* |
| Engage patients, family, friends in the consent discussion. | 85.0 | 60.0 | 70.6 | −25.0 | −14.4 |
| Elicit goals and values. | 85.0 | 65.0 | 58.2 | −20.0 | −26.8† |
| Encourage questions. | 95.0 | 85.0 | 81.6 | −10.0 | −13.4 |
| Neutrally explain benefits, harms, and risks of all options. | 90.0 | 85.0 | 75.8 | −5.0 | −14.2 |
| Use high-quality patient decision aids. | 55.0 | 52.6 | 44.1 | −2.4 | −10.9 |
| Use teach-back technique to check understanding. | 40.0 | 30.0 | 47.3 | −10.0 | 7.3 |
| Document consent discussion. | 75.0 | 50.0 | 39.3 | −25.0 | −35.7* |
| Ask patients to confirm consent immediately before test, treatment, or procedure when consent has been given in advance. | 90.0 | 85.0 | 56.6 | −5.0 | −33.4* |
p ≤ 0.01.
p ≤ 0.05.
Note: Clinicians include physicians, independent physician assistants, and independent nurse practitioners who conduct informed consent discussions. HCP refers to other health care professionals, such as nurses.