Our Position on Informed Consent

By Kathleen Mills LPC-S

Informed Consent | Association for Mental Health Professionals

Executive Summary

Informed consent is being delivered in a sterile, minimalist manner that satisfies legal teams but does very little to actually inform patients of potential outcomes. We believe the rapid decline in the quality of informed consent is due largely to the verticalization of healthcare which has produced a shift in professional priorities from patient outcomes to corporate profit motives. Healthcare providers have an ethical obligation to deliver informed consent to their patients in areas where other providers may have failed to do so and the informed consent obligation does not end with the intake paperwork process.

Informed Consent

The verticalization of healthcare is largely responsible for the failure to provide substantive informed consent. The shift in focus from patient outcomes to bottom line has resulted in a failure to adequately develop the patient relationship resulting in a massive failure to inform.

We believe a provider has a duty to begin informed consent before the professional relationship begins. Future patients have a right to know about the provider they're considering; their beliefs and approaches to healing. That begins in the marketing materials including the professional's website.

Informed consent does not end with the signing of a packet of papers during an impersonal, lobby intake process. This legal step is largely aimed at satisfying HIPAA requirements about data protection, and preventing legal action against the practice owner/corporation.

Informed consent then extends into every aspect and location of a therapist's professional and on-going relationship with a patient, especially their healthcare! The duty to properly perform informed consent continues after the initial intake process, throughout all forms of treatment does not end until the provider-patient relationship is terminated.

We believe a therapist also has a special duty to provide "remedial" informed consent where a previous healthcare provider of any discipline has failed to do so, within the limits of the provider's training and scope of practice. This should be driven by ethical considerations only. If we put patient outcomes first and prioritize disclosure of all relevant information, the legal aspects of informed consent will be met.

Post Categories

Posted in Position Statements, Our Profession Under Fire, Practice Operations, State Compliance
Kathleen Mills LPC-S

About Kathleen Mills LPC-S

Kathleen Mills is a fire-breathing, 34+ year veteran of the counseling world. People react in one of two ways when evil touches their lives: some retreat in fear, and some advance without pause to engage it. Kathleen falls firmly in the latter group. She owns and operates Life Tree Counseling in Frisco, TX, possesses a tireless work-ethic, and eagerly awaits your arrival into her growing army of warriors.

Leave a Comment