Overlapping Surgery Verbiage in Informed Consent Documents.

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Surgical Practices
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Overlapping surgery is a contentious issue in healthcare.
• Guidance from the Senate Finance Committee and American College of Surgeons promotes patient transparency.
• The adoption rate of these recommendations by institutions is largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate informed consent documents from US institutions.
• To assess the inclusion of verbiage concerning overlapping surgery.
• To determine institutional transparency in patient consent for surgical procedures.

Main Methods:

• A national sample of 104 institutional informed consent documents was collected.
• Documents were analyzed for terms related to overlapping surgery and surgeon absence.
• Key terms and explicit statements on attending surgeon presence were assessed.

Main Results:

• Only 29% of forms mentioned overlapping surgery or surgeon absence.
• While 60% used "overlapping surgery" and 83% used "critical portions," only 10% explicitly stated procedures could occur without the attending surgeon.
• A mere 7% of forms met all Senate Finance Committee criteria.

Conclusions:

• Informed consent documents infrequently provide comprehensive details on overlapping surgery.
• Lack of explicit information on attending surgeon presence and trainee roles raises concerns.
• Improved transparency in informed consent is crucial for surgeon-patient trust.