Customizable pre-printed consent forms: a solution in light of the Montgomery ruling

This article presents an audit cycle supported quality improvement project addressing best practice in the consent process for lower limb arthroplasty which takes into account the new standard in surgical consent and the importance of material risks.

50 consecutive total hip and total knee replacement consent forms over a 3-month period were reviewed for legibility and completeness. Following the introduction of a new, pre-printed but customizable consent form the review process was repeated.

The introduction of a customizable, pre-printed consent form that can be adjusted to reflect the individualized material risks of each patient increased legibility, reduced inappropriate human error variation and abolished the use of abbreviations and medical jargon.

When used as part of an extended consent process, the authors feel that the use of pre-printed but customizable consent forms improves legibility, completeness and consistency and also provides the ability to highlight those complications that are of particular importance for that patient to satisfy the new accepted standard in surgical consent.