Page 29 - 2021 Risk Reduction Series - Communication Part One

SVMIC Risk Reduction Series: Communication

If the patient was referred to you by another physician such as • The patient or surrogate is instructed what to do if he or

a PCP or specialist, you should notify the referring physician of she does not receive results in the expected timeframe.
the refusal of consent.
• Test results are conveyed sensitively, in a way that is

understandable to the patient or surrogate, and he or she

Patient Notification receives information needed to make well-considered

There should be a consistent method for communicating decisions about medical treatment and give informed
consent to future treatment.
to patients ALL test results and instructing them to call the
office if they have not received the results within the expected • Patient confidentiality is protected

timeframe. These instructions to the patients, as well as actual regardless of how clinical test
patient notification, should be documented in the medical results are conveyed.

record. Although instructing the patient to call for test results • The ordering physician is notified
does not absolve the doctor of the duty to inform the patient, before the disclosure takes place

it does act as another safety net to ensure that important test and has access to the results
results do not get overlooked and is a legitimate means of as they will be conveyed to the

vesting patients in their own healthcare. The more layers of patient or surrogate if results are to
redundancy that can be built into a system, the better. be conveyed directly to the patient

or surrogate by a third party.
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 the responsibility of ensuring the Handling Missed Appointments

patient has been notified of all test results as previously outlined. Often medical practices are challenged with how to handle a
missed appointment during which follow-up care or treatment
The American Medical Association (AMA) Code of Medical was to be provided. It is important that the practice have a

Ethics Opinion 2.1.5 outlines expectations of physicians to procedure to ensure that no-shows and cancellations are
4
ensure that test results are communicated appropriately to communicated to the treating provider, and any actions taken

patients: are documented in the medical record. The following outlines a

general process for handling missed appointments.
• The patient (or surrogate decision-maker if the patient

lacks decision-making capacity) is informed about when When notifying the treating provider of a missed appointment,
he or she can reasonably expect to learn the results of staff should include the reason for the visit. Depending on the

clinical tests and how those results will be conveyed. patient’s diagnosis and/or reason for the appointment, the

4 https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/ethics/informed-consent treating provider may instruct that the patient be contacted and

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