Obtaining Valid Informed Consent

Life care planners should obtain valid informed consent from their clients in order to practice effective risk management. If life care planners also are case managers, they are specifically required by national standards of care published by the Case Management Society of America to obtain valid informed consent from their clients. This article presents frequently asked questions regarding informed consent and relates to life care planners as well as case managers. Revised standards of care published by the Case Management Society of America (www.CMSA.org) require case managers to obtain consent to provide case management services. Below are some questions that case managers frequently ask about informed consent along with answers that take into account national standards of care.