Making Medical Decisions Best For Me - Choosing Wisely Questions & Informed Consent by MediTalkPodcast published on 2019-02-07T22:43:25Z At some point in our life unfortuately ourselves or a loved one may need to attend a medical appointment or spend time in hospital. Thanks to the internet and doctor google we can type in a medical condition and can read, listen and watch a lot of medical information which may or may not always be relevant to our own personal situation. Medical advancement nowadays in terms of surgery particularly is incredible however, how many questions are we asking before saying 'yes' to medical procedures and how confident do we feel when signing medical consent forms? Please consider the following questions: What do we really understand about informed medical consent? Are we reading fully our consent forms before signing? Do you leave medical appointments pondering and worrying about un-answered medical questions? Are we asking enough questions when making medical decisions that can affect our health in the long term? What questions could we be asking of medical professionals that can really help us with our medical decision-making? Decisions we make about our medical care often have long term implications to our health and our quality of life. The information we discuss in this podcast episode may really help us as healthcare consumers feel more empowered to have our individual needs better met. I speak with Dr Matthew Anstey who is an Intensivist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Western Australia, who also is the current chair of the Choosing Wisely Australia advisory group. Dr Anstey summarises for us five key questions that can help us when making medical decisions. Choosing Wisely 5 Key Questions: 1. Do I really need this test or procedure? 2. What are the risks? 3. Are there simpler, safer options? 4. What happens if I don't do anything? 4. What are the costs? www.choosingwisely.org.au Dr Anstey mentions in the interview we don't necessarily need to ask all 5 questions but, perhaps 1 or 2 of the questions may help to facilitate good discussion between yourself and your doctor. We also speak with Pip Brennan the Executive Director of the Health Consumers Council of WA about informed consent. Pip highlighted when making decisions about medical procedures consider asking the proceduralist how many of a particular procedure have they conducted? And the outcomes patients' have had from these procedures? For more information on informed consent from Health Consumers' Council visit: www.hconc.org.au Both Dr Anstey and Pip provide some insightful information to assist us to make the right decisions for our health, quality of life and our back pocket as sometimes these medical decisions not only can be quite costly both financially but also to our health in the long term. Genre Health