Patient informed consent – safety for the patient or the physician

Abstract

Informed consent is a form in which the patient gives his consent or refuses a medical procedure based on the information the physician has provided him. The main purpose of informed consent is to secure the protection of patient’s rights, to verify the identity of the patient, and to acquire the consent for the procedure.Informed consent is mostly used in clinical practice and clinical research. The information provided to the patient through informed consent by a physician in an understandable fashion enables the patient to decide on future procedures that concern his health. Historically, the beginnings of informed consent date back to the 14th century, but it was not until the early 20th century that its importance grew. The reason for that was the development of invasive procedures in medical practice.In hospital institutions, informed consent is obligatory for every high-risk procedure carried out in that health care institution. Most often, this includes invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, as well as surgical procedures.