PHD approves new informed consent policy at clinics
By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff
At its regular June 11 meeting, the Panhandle Health District Board of Health considered and approved a new informed consent policy, which seeks to define and solidify the process by which PHD providers receive consent for routine medical procedures. The motion, put forward by Board Member Duke Johnson, comes after months of campaigning by Bonner County Commissioner Ron Korn and PHD Board Chair Thomas Fletcher.
Though PHD maintains that obtaining informed consent is standard practice in its clinics, Johnson stated his motion defines “in essence, what was meant by ‘informed consent’” and outlines steps to ensure patient comprehension and autonomy.
“This process shall include discussion of the nature and purpose of the proposed intervention, reasonably foreseeable risks and benefits, available alternatives and the consequences of declining the intervention,” said Johnson. “The health care provider shall assess the patient’s understanding and provide information in a manner appropriate to the patient’s questions and level of comprehension.”
In addition to counseling by a licensed nurse practitioner or doctor — not a medical assistant, as is common — patients will also receive Food and Drug Administration-approved labeling, medication guides and “other patient educational materials” to supplement the current federally-mandated handouts, such as the Vaccine Information Statements produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to PHD Medical Director Gregory Pennock, “currently there is written informed consent for all procedures except vaccinations,” though anyone receiving a vaccine must sign an immunization consent form.
“This is consent, but this is not informed consent,” said Pennock, arguing that the form does not give adequate information or ensure the patient’s understanding.
Medical providers will now be required to tailor their explanations to the patient’s level of comprehension, whether that be at “an eighth grade level” or that of a post-doctoral researcher. Patients will then have time to process the information and ask questions before both they and the provider sign the new informed consent paperwork, which will be entered into the medical record.
Board Member Glen Bailey, representing Bonner County, questioned how PHD will instruct its clinicians on informed consent practices, suggesting that the district could use artificial intelligence to tailor explanations to patients.
“My thought would be, they do it all the time throughout their professional career on a daily basis,” said Johnson. “That would be like saying, ‘How can we instruct people in construction to build buildings?’ I mean, this is what we do.”
Board Member Peggy Cuvala, or Benewah County, further cautioned her peers, stating that a legal opinion from March 2025 had instructed the board to “exercise caution” and ensure that it was not “practicing medicine” or “providing any kind of information that could be inconsistent with state law.”
The motion to adopt the new informed consent policy passed 5-2 with votes from Johnson, Fletcher, Bailey, Kootenai County’s Joel Noland and Shoshone County’s Melissa Cowles.
“This policy is consistent with and supplements the informed consent and parental consent statutes of the State of Idaho,” stated PHD Public Information Officer Jennifer Ekizian in a recent news release. “To our knowledge, this is the first time that a distinct informed consent policy has been implemented by any of the health districts of Idaho.”
