Informed Consent Unpacked: Navigating Patient Communication in Wellness Practices
Sep 16, 2025This episode tackles a crucial but often overlooked aspect of wellness practice management: informed consent. The conversation is prompted by Anna's recent experience at a hospital where her teenage son underwent emergency appendectomy surgery, providing a stark contrast between traditional medical informed consent practices and what typically happens in alternative healthcare settings.
Anna's hospital experience served as an eye-opener about effective patient communication: "It didn't feel threatening. I didn't feel afraid. I felt safe and I felt seen." She describes how multiple healthcare team members consistently communicated what was happening, why, and what to expect at each stage of treatment. This systematic approach to keeping patients informed created a sense of safety and trust that she found deeply valuable.
The contrast with alternative medicine practices is striking. When Anna's clinic reached out to insurance companies for guidance on informed consent protocols, "they told us that we were one of the only clinics doing it," a fact that Kendall described as "terrifying." This highlights a significant gap in standard practices across the wellness industry.
The implementation challenges in Anna's acupuncture clinic reveal common barriers practitioners face. Her team experienced significant resistance to the new protocols: "People were very unhappy and it took us a while to create a script that felt manageable on the part of the practitioner to deliver to the patient." The fear was palpable - practitioners worried that discussing potential side effects would drive patients away.
Kendall provides valuable context about professional training differences, noting that while psychotherapy and massage therapy programs often emphasize consent and permission-seeking, "most of the other modalities were not trained to this level on informed consent." This creates a challenge for multidisciplinary practices that must establish consistent standards across different healthcare approaches.
The conversation reveals that effective informed consent implementation requires systematic approaches. Anna describes their solution: creating standardized scripts, implementing chart auditing procedures, and establishing consequences for non-compliance. As Kendall notes, "We do have to audit charts... everyone on this team is a professional and clinically trained... they should just be doing this as best practice. But the reality is that it's not."
One of the most valuable insights shared is Kendall's approach to training: "What has worked the best is just giving real life examples from practice of like, here's a time when a clinician on the team got permission for this but did not give informed consent for this. And then X, Y and Z happened." This practical approach helps practitioners understand the real-world implications rather than treating informed consent as mere paperwork.
The discussion also touches on the documentation aspects, with Anna explaining their system of having checkboxes in patient charts and the importance of regular audits to ensure compliance. This systematic approach ensures that informed consent becomes an integral part of patient care rather than an afterthought.
Throughout the conversation, both hosts emphasize that proper informed consent actually builds trust rather than diminishing it, challenging the common fear that transparency will scare patients away..
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About Anna Rudel
Anna Rudel, L. Ac is the owner and founder of Lokahi Acupuncture Clinic in San Jose California, founded in 2003. Anna is a master organizer and clinician, and as a Coach she specializes in working with Clinic Owners in the state of California, and Acupuncturists and Acupuncture Clinic Owners, or groups wanting to add Acupuncture worldwide, as well as teams that need support with employee retention and satisfaction. Born in the UK, Anna has traveled extensively in Asia and now has a thriving multi-practitioner clinic in the US!
Anna's Website and Links
- Website: https://lokahiacupuncture.com/
- Learn Group Coaching: https://www.wellnesscentercreators.com/group-coaching
- For info about Individual Coaching: https://www.wellnesscentercreators.com/individual-coaching
About Kendall Hagensen
Kendall is a Somatic Mental Health Therapist, Multidisciplinary Clinic Owner and Business Coach. She specializes in, and is passionate about, working with healthcare professionals to create the businesses of their dreams. Big goals always have a psychological component beneath the surface, so Kendall uses her background in Somatic Psychotherapy and EMDR Therapy mixed with Business Coaching tools to help clients develop a healthy relationship with their business and their strength as a leader.
As someone who lives with a chronic illness herself, Kendall feels that health happens best within community, which is why she takes a holistic, integrative, and collaborative wellness approach to her personal and professional life.
Kendall’s Web/Social Links