Lasik Surgery: What is informed consent?

In Sacramento * Roseville * Stockton * Yuba City, CA

Informed consent occurs when you are allowed and consciously able to participate in choices about your own health care. The idea of informed consent grew out of the belief that the patient has a legal and ethical right to decide what happens to his or her body and that the physician has an ethical duty to involve the patient in all health care decisions.

What Does Full Informed Consent Include?
Generally, informed consent includes the following elements:

• Discussion of the procedure
• Opportunity to understand reasonable alternatives
• Full disclosure of risks, benefits, and recovery
• Assessment of patient’s level of understanding
• Acceptance by the patient to proceed with a specific procedure

The next step in informed consent is to confirm:

• The patient is competent to decide matters related to his or her own healthcare
• The patient’s consent is voluntary

If these two conditions are met, your consent as a fully informed patient is considered valid.

Informed consent vs. basic consent
In general, surgery, anesthesia and other invasive procedures require informed consent that follows these general guidelines.

Less invasive procedures, such as having your blood drawn or agreeing to basic in-office assessments require only basic consent, in which the health care professional or technician explains what they are about to do and asks your permission to do so.

Our patient care philosophy is centered around a holistic approach based on the varying needs of each individual patient. Our highly trained, compassionate and caring eye surgeons know that you may have concerns about your Sacramento LASIK procedure, and they strive to inform and educate you about what to expect before during and after your LASIK treatment.