THURSDAY, March 20, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Standardization of living liver donor evaluation consent forms is needed, according to a study published online Feb. 25 in Liver Transplantation.
Carrie Thiessen, from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., and colleagues examined written informed consent forms from 26 U.S. centers with active living donor evaluation programs. The forms were reviewed to ascertain whether they incorporated elements required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and suggested by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).
The researchers found that the nine mandated CMS elements were included in forms from 57 percent of the centers. Seventy-eight percent of the responding centers used forms that addressed at least two-thirds of the non-binding OPTN recommended elements. Fewer than one in five centers (17 percent) provided written offers of an alibi to donors who withdraw from the evaluation.
"On the basis of our findings, we offer suggestions that may be relevant to ongoing revisions to the OPTN living liver donor consent policy and may help centers to improve the clarity of their written consent forms," the authors write.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
