Health Commun.  2022 Dec;17(2):59-71. 10.15715/kjhcom.2022.17.2.59.

The Usefulness of Non-face-to-face Communication Device for Medical Consents in the Emergency Department During COVID-19 Pandemic

• Song M
• Cho A
• Yu G
• Cho J

• KMID: 2538439
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.15715/kjhcom.2022.17.2.59

Abstract

Purpose
: Since the era of COVID-19, face-to-face contact has been reduced to prevent the spread of infectious diseases around the world, and hospitals are applying various methods to prevent the spread of infection. However, when writing a consent form essential during the treatment process, it had to be done face-to-face. We developed a non-face-to-face communication device to enable real-time consent writing. This study aims to evaluate the usefulness of the non-face-to-face communication device when writing a consent form.
Methods
: From December 28, 2021 to February 2, 2022, electronic medical records of patients visited the severance hospital emergency center and had a central venous catheter inserted were collected retrospectively. There were 56 consent forms included in the study, 43 face-to-face and 13 non-face-to-face. We checked the difference between the details explained in the non-face-to-face consent form and the face-to-face by the average score and the explanation of each item. The score was measured from a minimum of 0 points to a maximum of 13 points, with 1 point for explained items and 0 points for unexplained.
Results
: The average score for the face-to-face consent form was 4.3, and for the non-face-to-face was 3.0 (p=0.148). There was no significant difference in the explanation of each item.
Conclusion
: It was confirmed writing a consent form through the non-face-to-face communication device can perform a similar role compared to the face-to-face. It is expected unnecessary contact can be reduced by applying the device to hospital rooms, and enabling a non-face-to-face rounds system for new infectious diseases.

Keyword

Communication; Corona Virus Disease 19; Informed consent