Hipaa Social Media Consent Form – Everybody should be able to make educated decisions about their medical care. Medical treatments can be injurious, and patients must be able, in the end, to decide the risks that are known to be present that their bodies should be treated. Therefore, before medical workers can operate on patients, they must receive what is known as informed consent.
Informed consent constitutes a lawful condition that requires that a patient be provided with detailed information about his or her physical condition and the treatment recommended by the treating physician. Once this information is received the patient must be able to give the physician their consent to treat prior to any form of care is provided. Without informed consent from the patient an health care professional is not permitted to provide treatment.
Decision Making Capacity
In some cases patients don’t have the knowledge to fully comprehend their treatment options and the risks and benefits that come with each one. In other cases, patients may not be able to communicate their decisions to the health professionals. When this occurs it is believed that the patient to lack the appropriate capacity to make decisions. An individual from the family or court-appointed representative, could then be able to perform informed consent instead.
Patients that are strongly influenced by their emotions, like anxiety or fear, for example could be classified as not having the capacity to make decisions. Patients who are in the state of unconscious are unable to make decisions on their independent of themselves, so outsiders are required to obtain consent instead.
Items in an Hipaa Social Media Consent Form
There are certain elements that are universally included in informed consent forms:
The patient’s medical condition/diagnosis
The treatment that is recommended by the physician who is acting
The risks and the benefits associated with this procedure
Alternative treatments are readily available, along with their benefits and risks
The risks and benefits that come of refusing treatment at all
These items must not only be recorded in the documentation however, they must be discussed with the patient. So, he can fully comprehend all the details of the scenario and will be able to get immediate answers to any questions that may arise.