Pediatric cases benefit from better consent
The EmmiKids informed consent system is particularly needed because parents often are so upset over their child's health problem that they have a hard time absorbing information during a talk with the physician, says Neil Izenberg, MD, founder and chief executive of The Nemours Center for Children's Health Media, in Wilmington, DE. The Nemours Center creates online, print, and video information to educate families about children's health issues. By using the multimedia system, parents can go back and review information to make sure they fully understand what they discussed with the doctor, Izenberg says.
"It really comes down to the ethical responsibility of the organization to make sure the families really understand what is going on," he says. "It's just not enough to say the information and write down that you said it, so then you can say you've done your duty. The real goal is to make sure the parents understand fully, and that's where this system helps."
EMMI Solutions in Chicago, which developed the system with Nemours, a health system based in Jacksonville, FL, recently surveyed 35,600 patients and parents about their experience with the multimedia informed consent systems for adults and children. The results were overwhelmingly positive:
- 96% said Emmi improved their understanding of what to expect.
- 90% of patients said Emmi gave them a better understanding of how to take care of themselves before and after their procedure.
- 84% said Emmi covered risks that they didn't know about previously.
- 80% said Emmi answered questions they had planned to call their doctor to discuss.
- 92% received new information about their procedure through Emmi.
- 89% were more comfortable about their upcoming procedure after viewing Emmi.
- 87% of patients experienced increased confidence in their doctor due to Emmi.
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