Wouter Leclercq

Chapter 6 102 mainly seen in one hospital that used a pre-made list of possibly discussed information items in the digital patient chart. Doctors had to actively delete the items that they did not discuss before saving their final note. Probably, this kind of pre-made list contributes to these mistakes in the patient chart documentation. One of the strengths of this study is that inclusion was limited to cases with only one preoperative consultation. Therefore, the entire SIC process took place in the consultation studied, allowing us to fully capture the discussed information. Still, a couple of limitations merit a mention. The plastic surgeons and their residents were aware of the audio recorder’s presence and of the fact that SIC was the object of study. Though the doctors were not aware of the study’s methods, the above limitations might have led to a considerable performance bias. It can be assumed that the doctors will have tried to conduct SIC more thoroughly than usual. In regular practice, less information is probably transferred. Besides that, this study solely focused on patients with Dupuytren Disease. Therefore, the results of this study only describe SIC concerning Dupuytren Disease and not SIC in general. Nevertheless, when interpreted with care, these results might be used as an indication for the current practice of SIC in the Netherlands in general. Since this study and previous studies indicate that current SIC has several shortcomings, we believe that there is room for improvement. Digital and multimedia educative software might serve to aid the patient-informing process 21,22 , as it can facilitate the process of addressing all aspects of information. Perhaps, when used before or after the consultation, the system can free up time in the consultation room. In conclusion, despite the fact that a rather large part of the consultation time was spent on SIC, patients were only partially informed about treatment risks, the postoperative period, and who will be their operating surgeon. A discrepancy exists between noted and actually discussed information. This discrepancy was mainly seen in one hospital that used a pre-made SIC information list in its digital patient chart.