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6/27/2018 |
Insights |
Ask Kara RDH: Is The Office Legally Covered With Signed Informed Refusal Forms? |
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Ask Kara RDH: Is The Office Legally Covered With Signed Informed Refusal Forms? by Kara Vavrosky, RDHEP The new office I work for has informed refusal forms for everything; radiographs, perio chart, SRP, etc. To me, this is supervised neglect for over two years of no radiographs and one year for perio chart. I had one patient who had not had a perio chart in several years due to refusal. I explained to the patient why it was so important, and she finally allowed me to chart. I know a patient has a right to refuse treatment, but diagnostic tools? Is the office legally covered with signed informed refusal forms? I, by no stretch of the imagination, have a law degree or am licensed to give legal advice, so to answer this I will revert to the American Dental Association’s statement on informed refusal of treatment and diagnostic modalities. According to the American Dental Association, an office is not legally covered with signed refusal forms. The ADA states, “If the patient refuses the proposed treatment, the dentist must inform the patient about the consequences of not accepting the treatment and get a signed informed refusal. However, obtaining an informed refusal does not release the dentist from the responsibility of providing a standard of care. If, for example, the patient refuses to have radiographs taken, the dentist should refer the patient to another dentist when the original dentist believes that radiographs are a necessary prerequisite to proper care in that case.” This is stated in the ADA Council on Dental Practice Division of Legal Affairs document on Dental Records (page 16). Read full article on Today's RDH.
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