What is it about?
This paper is a scoping review of how informed consent in healthcare is being digitalized—from videos and interactive web/apps to AI-driven chatbots/LLMs (e.g., ChatGPT). It maps (1) which technologies are used and their role in the consent process, (2) what outcomes they affect (patients and clinicians), and (3) what helps or hinders successful implementation. The review covers studies published 2012–June 2024 and includes 27 studies.
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Why is it important?
Traditional paper-based consent is often hard to understand, not individualized, and constrained by limited clinician time. Digital consent tools can improve patient understanding of procedures, risks/benefits, and alternatives, with mixed evidence for satisfaction/convenience/stress; clinician-focused evidence is limited but suggests time savings as a key benefit. For AI specifically, the review highlights promise (e.g., personalization, readability improvements) alongside risks (inaccuracies, fabricated references, bias), concluding that AI tools are not yet appropriate without medical oversight and should complement—not replace—human interaction.
Perspectives
digital consent can reduce friction and time pressure, but only if it is usable, trusted, and integrated into workflows—otherwise it risks adding workload and undermining the physician–patient relationship.It is important to consider patient-centered usability (including accessibility for low digital literacy), consistency between digital content and face-to-face discussion, training/support for staff, and clear legal/privacy transparency to build trust.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Rigotti
Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR) and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Digitalizing informed consent in healthcare: a scoping review, BMC Health Services Research, July 2025, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-025-12964-7.
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