Insights
Consent and risk management
Why a consent form decides a claim, and what underwriters actually read when they ask for one.
What it is for
A consent form is a record of a conversation
It is not a waiver and it is not a formality collected at the front desk. It is the only contemporaneous evidence that a specific patient was told a specific thing on a specific day.
When a matter is reviewed, the question is rarely whether the procedure was performed correctly. It is usually whether the patient understood what they were agreeing to, who would be performing it, and what the realistic range of outcomes was.
A signature on a generic form answers none of that. A form that names the product, names the provider, states the alternatives including doing nothing, and records that questions were asked and answered is a different document entirely.
Where files come apart
Six gaps that show up again and again
Off label use
A product used outside its cleared indication, with no record that the patient was told so. Common, legal, and the single most frequent documentation gap.
Who performed it
The form names the practice. The patient believed they were seeing the physician. The chart shows someone else performed it and does not explain the structure.
Expectation setting
No record of what a realistic result looks like, and no record that the patient was told more than one session might be needed.
Photographs
Taken, stored, sometimes published, with consent that does not cover the use they were put to.
Revisions and touch ups
Consent obtained once at the start of a series, never revisited when the plan changed.
Version drift
Three versions of the same form in circulation because one lives on a laptop. Nobody can say which one the patient signed.
What underwriters look at
They are reading your process, not your paperwork
An underwriter asking for consent forms is not auditing your legal position. They are using the forms as the cheapest available proxy for how the practice is run.
A current, versioned, procedure specific set tells them the practice has a process. A single undated general form tells them something else, and it tells them quickly.
What they tend to ask for: the forms themselves, who is responsible for keeping them current, how often they are reviewed, and what happens when a new service is added.
Where to get them
A consent library you do not have to pay for
Every practice with a Juno login can download the consent library and the practice planner. No purchase, no obligation, and it is not contingent on placing coverage with us.
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