Informed consent and transesophageal echocardiography: a review of patient responses.
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.
Paterick
Timothy E
TE
Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida 32224, United States. paterick.timothy@mayo.edu
Paterick
Zachary R
ZR
Fletcher
Gerald
G
D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires