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Is Your Data Secure? Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine - November 2017

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 3 3 Pa. Court: Docs Can't Delegate Informed Consent Pennsylvania case may have broad implications nationwide. B eleaguered physicians, already fighting to find time to fulfill all of their obligations, have been hit with another haymaker — a shocking decision by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania that prohibits anyone but a doctor from securing informed consent. In Shinal v. Toms (osmag.net/aytd6v), the court decided that in secur- ing informed consent, doctors may no longer delegate to a nurse, a PA, a resident, another doctor or anyone else. "Informed consent," it says, "requires direct communication between physician and patient, and contemplates a back-and-forth, face-to-face exchange." Patients are likely to have questions, the court added, questions "the physician must answer personally before the patient feels informed and becomes willing to consent." Medical Malpractice Rafael M. Villalobos Jr., JD • DOCS CAN'T DELEGATE Only a physician can obtain informed consent, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has ruled.

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