When carried out effectively, the informed consent process provides patients with the information they need empowering them to make appropriate decisions about their health. Minimally invasive image-guided procedures (MIIPs) provide alternatives to surgery and other therapies for a wide range of diseases and offer a faster recovery with fewer side effects or risks.

Many people do not know about their MIIPs options, even if one could save their life. Often, the discussions that take place overwhelm patients as they may have a limited understanding of anatomy and physiology and struggle to understand medical jargon. Health literacy is not always taken into consideration as clinicians typically engage in these discussions above the 6th to 8th grade health literacy level undermining patient autonomy and trust. Non-English speaking patients, especially those with limited education and social support are at a further disadvantage.

Therapeutic preferences and clinician bias contribute to a lack in uniformity and therefore therapeutic options given to one patient may never be offered to another. The Interventional Initiative www.theii.org was founded to educate and engage the public about minimally invasive, image-guided procedures (MIIPs). This presentation will discuss the opportunity to improve the informed consent process for Interventional Radiology procedures through the implementation of bilingual, plain language Patient Decision Aids (PDAs).