What Are Consent To Treat Signatures?

Consent to treat signatures provide written acknowledgement by the patient or representative that the informed consent process occurred. 

How Often Are Consent To Treat Signatures Required For Rehabilitation Services?

There is no regulatory requirement for the duration of a consent to treat for therapies per se.  The general legal principle behind the general consent to treat, as well as the more significant informed consent for a procedure, blood or blood product transfusion, chemo therapy or radiation treatment, psychotropic meds, dialysis, etc. is that a consent is valid so long as the identified benefits, risks, alternatives, and consequences of non-treatment have not changed appreciably.  

If, for example, half-way through a series of therapy treatments a patient’s condition changes resulting in an increased risk or lessened benefit, then you owe it to the patient to have another conversation laying out the revised risks and benefits and allowing the patient to choose to continue treatment or not. 

This explanation above is consistent with CMS and TJC rules.  Some states have informed consent law/regulation that places a maximum time frame on informed consent even if risks or benefits have not changed.   Also, some risk managers and hospital legal counsels advise that your policy have a maximum time frame.  We have seen 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days specified in hospital policies, for example.

Patton Healthcare Consulting

Patton Healthcare Consulting provides a complete range of Joint Commission and CMS Compliance Assistance and a full range of pre-survey and post survey services.

We serve more than 200 hospitals, behavioral health care organizations, ambulatory clinics and home care companies nationwide—hospitals ranging from critical access hospitals to the largest health systems. Contact us at (888) PHC-INC1 for more information.