American Society Of Plastic Surgeons Consent Forms – Everybody should be able to make educated decisions about their health. Treatments for medical conditions can be invasive, so patients should be able to ultimately determine, based on known risks of their body, how it will be treated. In order to ensure that medical professionals are allowed to treat patients, they have to obtain the so-called informed consent.
Informed consent constitutes a lawful condition under which a patient is provided with a full and complete description of his or her physical state and the recommended treatment by the acting physician. After receiving this information the patient is required to be able to give the physician their consent to treat before any form of care can be provided. Without the patient’s informed consent any health professional cannot provide treatment.
Decision Making Capacity
In some instances, patients do not possess the ability to comprehend their options in terms of treatment and the risks/benefits of each one. In other cases patients might not be able to effectively explain their decisions to health professionals. In these situations the patient is said not to have adequate decision making capacity. Family members or a court-appointed representative, will then be permitted to take over informed consent.
Patients who are influenced by their emotions such as anxiety or fear, for example can be deemed to not having the capacity for decision-making. The patients who are unconscious are unable to make decisions on their independent of themselves, so outsiders need to consent to treatment instead.
Items in an American Society Of Plastic Surgeons Consent Forms
There are certain elements that are common to all consent forms:
The patient’s medical condition/diagnosis
The treatment suggested by the medical professional in charge
The benefits and risks associated with this treatment
Alternative treatments are available, along with their risks and benefits
The dangers and advantages with refusing treatment at all
These items must not only be documented, but they must also discuss the situation with patients. This way, he or will be able to comprehend the details of the situation and will be able to get immediate answers to any questions that may have arisen.