Hospitals try high-tech to better inform patients

CHICAGO (AP) — Learning he had prostate cancer floored John Noble. Then came the prospect of surgery and his overpowering fear of being "put under" with anesthesia.

Remarkably, he found comfort in a computer. A soothing woman's voice explained the operation step-by-step, its risks and benefits, and even answered his questions. Noble's phobia vanished. The operation to remove his tumor was uneventful and Noble is doing fine.

The 54-year-old Pennsylvania lawyer was aided by an interactive computer program that is part of a growing trend in health care, helping patients better understand what they are consenting for the doctor to do.

Proponents say this way of getting informed consent makes patients partners in decision-making.

Such a system "sends a message that the decisions are truly owned by the patients," said Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a Yale University heart specialist and advocate of changing informed consent procedures.