Get Informed About Informed Consent
Whenever you see a physician or undergo medical treatment, you have the right to be completely informed about the risks, benefits, and effects of the treatment. You also have the right to learn about alternatives. All of this information must be conveyed before you’re asked to make decisions. Peter Wiernicki, a reproductive technology attorney at Joseph, Reiner & Wiernicki, P.C., in Rockville, Maryland, says, “Informed consent should be detailed enough so that there’s no doubt in a patient’s mind as to the procedure she’s undergoing and what the risks are.”
Deciding Factors
As a patient, the right to make decisions about your treatment and your body is ultimately yours alone. Although you call the shots, physicians have certain standards they must observe regardless of what you decide. For patients, having to abide by these types of standards can be frustrating. For example, in vitro cycles may be cancelled if there are too few follicles. As a fertility patient, Lee Collins of Natick, Massachusetts, remembers, “The feeling that a cancellation would be ‘decreed,’ with no input from me, made me feel powerless.” To avoid that feeling, see if your physician will work with you to come to a mutually agreed upon decision; most will at least discuss their guidelines and standards, so there’s no confusion. As with all fertility issues, asking questions and getting information is the key to protecting your rights.
Get Hip to HIPAA
When you sign the form you acknowledge that you understand the basic tenets, which include:
• Your records can only be released to your insurance company if you consent
• Medical information cannot be released or discussed with any person other than yourself unless you specifically authorize it
• The physician, practice, clinic or hospital cannot use your personal information for marketing or other purposes without permission
• You have the right to see and obtain copies of your own medical records
• You’re entitled to know when and to whom your information has been released
• You can have corrections made to your records
Fall 2006
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