Consent and privileges

A consent belongs to a patient and records its purpose, version, signed date, expiration date and document. Its state can be pending, signed, withdrawn or expired. The clinic can inspect the exact consent record relevant to a visit rather than relying on a general patient status alone. The patient record carries a separate consent status for quick orientation.

• Anchor the record. Match each consent purpose and version to the patient before care begins.
• Capture the evidence. Keep signed dates, expiration dates and documents together on the consent record.
• Check the handoff. Let the Clinical Governance Administrator examine license evidence and effective dates before changing a privilege from Pending to Verified.

The governance administrator maintains each clinician’s privilege type, license number, issuing authority, verification evidence and effective dates. A pending privilege becomes verified only after a human has examined the evidence. Suspended or expired states remain visible to staff reviewing who should perform a particular kind of clinical work.

Agree the purposes and versions used for consent, where signed documents are stored, and who checks expiration before care. Decide who can verify a clinician’s privilege and which evidence is sufficient for that decision. Keep effective dates current when a license changes. Record the decision in the privilege record rather than treating a job title as proof of eligibility.

Take a patient with a pending consent and a clinician with a pending privilege. Attach the signed consent document, record its version and date, and move it to signed. The governance administrator opens the clinician record, checks the license and evidence, then marks the privilege verified. Have the reviewer inspect both records in the context of the planned encounter. Repeat with a withdrawn consent and an expired privilege so the team can see the states clearly.

When a patient returns, the team should check the current purpose-specific consent and the clinician’s effective privilege dates again. A prior signed document or verification may no longer cover the planned visit.

• Privileges awaiting verification — Examine pending privilege evidence and record the governance decision.
• Consent awaiting signature — Find patient consents that still need a signed document and date.

Follow the connected records in the operating process and agree the decision points before the first live visit. Use implementation to prepare sample cases with the team. Return to the data model when mapping existing patient and encounter records. The team should confirm that each role can reach the records needed for its own part of the handoff.