Informed Consent

Informed Consent is crucial to the practice of anesthesiologists. It describes a discussion between a patient (or surrogate) and members of the healthcare team prior to performing a medical intervention. A thorough informed consent requires a discussion of the risks, benefits and alternatives of an intervention.

• Reasonable Physician Standard: disclosure of information to the extent that is common for other practitioners in your field.
• Reasonable Patient Standard: disclosure of information to the extent that most patients would prefer.
• Shared Decision-Making: assessment and discussion surrounding a patients goals and wishes and incorporating their concerns into the reasonable physician/reasonable patient standard.

Assent: Sometimes with minors or patients unable to fully participate in the informed consent process, it may be appropriate to obtain assent. This entails a brief discussion with the patient in which they can voice their concerns and ideally agree with the care plane that has been consented to by their surrogate decision-maker (who should be making decisions aligned with the patient's best interests).