International Journal of Cardiology
Volume 143, Issue 3 , Pages 227-229, 3 September 2010

Informed consent and transesophageal echocardiography: A review of patient responses

  • Timothy E. Paterick

      Affiliations

    • Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, United States
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224, United States. Tel.: +1 904 953 6351.
    • ,
  • Zachary R. Paterick

      Affiliations

    • Research Assistant, The College of Holy Cross, Worcester, MA 01610, United States
    • ,
  • Gerald Fletcher

      Affiliations

    • Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Received 4 December 2009; accepted 14 February 2010. published online 08 March 2010.

Abstract 

Objective

To identify whether our pre-procedure discussion of the risks of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) as well as documentation in the electronic medical record (EMR) met the standard of care for informed consent.

Methods

Questionnaires were mailed to 500 patients who underwent a TEE at the Mayo Clinic Florida (MCF) requesting responses to questions that would identify how well the risks of the TEE procedure were discussed.

Results

A positive response to the questions regarding the risks of TEE ranged from 75 to 95% and adequate documentation in the EMR revealed a 66% compliance rate.

Conclusions

Individual physician and institutional commitment to informed consent at MCF is reflected in the very positive response to our questionnaire for meeting the criteria of informed consent; however, the documentation of the procedure discussion fell below the desired rate.

Abbreviations: TEE, Transesophageal echocardiography, EMF, Electronic medical record, MCF, Mayo Clinic Florida, DNR, Did not respond

Keywords: Informed consent, Standards, Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), Risks, Doctrine of informed consent, Fiduciary duty, Documentation

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PII: S0167-5273(10)00113-0

doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2010.02.046

International Journal of Cardiology
Volume 143, Issue 3 , Pages 227-229, 3 September 2010

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