Page 24 - 2022 Risk Basics - Systems

SVMIC Risk Basics: Systems

Patient Notification

There should be a consistent method for notifying patients of ALL test
results and instructing them to call the office if they have not received

the results within the expected timeframe. These instructions to the
patients, as well as actual patient notification, should be documented in

the medical record. Although instructing the patient to call for test results
does not absolve the doctor of the duty to inform the patient, it does act

as another safety net to ensure that important test results do not get
overlooked and is a legitimate means of vesting the patient in his/her

own healthcare. The more layers of redundancy that can be built into a
system, the better.

It should be noted that, irrespective of a facility’s statutory responsibility
to report test results, (e.g., mammograms), it does not alleviate the

physician of responsibility of ensuring the patient has been notified of all
test results as previously outlined.

The American Medical Association (AMA) Code of Medical Ethics

Opinion 2.1.5 outlines expectations of physicians to ensure that test
6
results are communicated appropriately to patients:

• The patient (or surrogate decision-maker if the patient lacks

decision-making capacity) is informed about when he or she can
reasonably expect to learn the results of clinical tests and how those

results will be conveyed.

• The patient/surrogate is instructed what to do if he or she does not

receive results in the expected timeframe.

• Test results are conveyed sensitively, in a way that is understandable
to the patient/surrogate, and the patient/surrogate receives
information needed to make well-considered decisions about

medical treatment and give informed consent to future treatment.

6 https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/ethics/reporting-clinical-test-results

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