Assessing the Impact of a Patient Education Platform to Augment the Informed Consent Process for Obstetrics and Gynecology Procedures

Informed consent is dependent on three criteria; the patient must be competent, relevant information including risks, benefits and alternatives must be clearly communicated, and the acceptance of treatment must be voluntary. The consent process usually occurs in the office setting through physician-led verbal communication. Despite satisfying the three criteria of informed consent, many patients leave the office with an inadequate understanding of the treatment they have consented to.

The purpose of this study is to use an interactive patient education pathway as an adjunct to the informed consent process for patients undergoing hysteroscopy. This will be done using a randomized controlled trial design.

Patients will be randomized to the control group (standard consent process) or the education group (standard consent process augmented by access to an interactive hysteroscopy teaching platform).

All patients will undergo the standard physician-led informed consent process. Patients from both groups will be asked to complete a post-informed consent questionnaire to assess their understanding of their upcoming procedure, preparedness for the procedure, and satisfaction with the informed consent process, be that through the traditional method or the interactive patient education portal.