patient-consent

Patient consent

Individuals are required to give their consent to receive medical treatment. Healthcare professionals have a duty to explain:

  • your medical condition
  • the recommended treatment (including other treatment options available)
  • the benefits, risks and possible complications of the recommended treatment.

These explanations are essential so you can make an informed decision about your care. This is known as “informed consent”.

Once the information is given, your healthcare provider may ask you (or your guardian or carer) to sign a consent form. When signed, this record gives the healthcare provider legal permission to perform the treatment or procedure.

About MedConsenting

A number of healthcare providers in Australia use MedConsenting, which is an online consenting service. We help clinicians conduct the informed consent process online using best practice information and processes.

Healthcare providers use MedConsenting to:

  • collect information from you in advance of your procedure
  • provide you with detailed information about your procedure and any associated risks
  • collect your agreement to this procedure (via a signature) online.

This will be done online in the privacy of your own home.

This system does not replace the normal face to face consultations and conversations that you will normally have with your healthcare provider. It is an additional process that streamlines the consenting process and enables healthcare practitioners to provide you with more detailed information about your procedure and any associated risks.

If you have any questions as part of this process, you can send a secure message to your healthcare provider at any time – and they too can reply to you within the same communication platform.

The MedConsenting service allows you to take the extra time that might be needed to review this information at home – and potentially discuss it with family members – away from the time pressure of the healthcare environment.

If your healthcare provider uses MedConsenting to assist with the patient consent process, they will let you know.

You can read more about how MedConsenting works here.

Find out more

Find out more about how MedConsenting works.
Contact us  if you have any questions.