The black box and improving informed consent

This was another educational and emotional day for me at the Marseille QI/PS summer camp. The first part of the day was focused on informed consent and shared decision making. I was moved to tears watching the story of Michael Skolnik and am so thankful to his parents for sharing their story with us.

It really got me thinking about the appropriate use of the informed consent document and how poorly we often counsel and consent our patients for complex and dangerous procedures.

In Michael’s case we will never know what transpired between him and the surgeon on the day he was consented for that second procedure. But Michael is not the first nor will he be the last patient who cannot tell us whether he received and understood all the necessary information to make an appropriate decision about such an invasive procedure.

Should we as physicians be relying on… Continue reading →