Informed consent is a legal and ethical principle that supports disclosing important information to patients so they can understand proposed treatments and fully participate in their care. The basis of informed consent rests on the principle of autonomy, which recognizes the right of competent individuals to make decisions regarding their healthcare.

Marcy A. Metzgar

The United States is facing a maternity healthcare provider shortage. What may reverse this trend is a robust and more diverse workforce of midwives educated through professionally accredited midwifery education programs.¹

Laura M. Cascella, MA, CPHRM

Mitigating violence in healthcare is a top concern for all types of settings, from small office practices to large health systems. An important strategy in the toolbox for violence prevention is training staff how to de-escalate aggressive, hostile, and violent patient behaviors. Yet, as patient behavior intensifies and edges closer to violence, de-escalation becomes more challenging and secondary to protecting other patients and staff members. Thus, a crucial aspect of de-escalation is assessing patients for the potential for aggression before it occurs.

Referring patients to specialists is common in both dental and medical practice. In fact, making appropriate referrals is a recommended risk strategy to avoid poor outcomes that result from practicing outside of one’s scope of expertise. However, healthcare providers can be accused of “negligent referral” if they refer patients to specialists who mishandle the patients’ cases and cause injuries.

Laura M. Cascella, MA, CPHRM

General surgeons face various risks in day-to-day practice. Adverse outcomes related to surgical treatment, diagnosis, and medical treatment can result from numerous factors, including issues with technical competency, clinical judgment, communication, documentation, and more.