Clinical Image Consent

Dermi Atlas records a patient's consent for clinical photography on the patient record, either as a digital signature captured in Atlas or as a verification of consent obtained outside it. An enforcement level decides whether Atlas reminds the team to record consent or holds image capture until it is recorded.

Clinician and Assistant accounts can both record and revoke consent.

Consent Enforcement Levels

The enforcement level is a setting of each account, under Preferences. It applies to every patient that account opens, and each team member sets their own. Three levels are available:

Disabled: no consent prompts and no upload restriction. This is the default for every account.
Advisory: a blue "Patient Photography Consent Advisory" banner appears on the patient's pages until consent is recorded, with a Document Consent button. Uploads are not restricted.
Required: an amber "Patient Photography Authorization Required" banner appears on the patient's pages until consent is recorded, with a Begin Authorization button, and image capture for that patient is held, as described under What Required Restricts below.

The banners appear on the Patient Details, entry, Image Pool, and Full Body Photography pages.

Entry page showing the Patient Photography Authorization Required warning banner with the Begin Authorization button in the Required enforcement state — When consent enforcement is set to Required and consent has not been obtained, a warning banner is displayed with an option to begin the authorization process.

Set the Enforcement Level

Open Preferences from the sidebar.
In the Patient Consent for Clinical Photography card, select Disabled, Advisory, or Required.
Select Save Changes. A "Preferences updated" notification confirms the change.

The enforcement level is changed to Required on the Preferences page and saved, and a confirmation notification reports the update.

Illustrative demo with synthetic data. Learn more

Preferences page showing the Patient Consent for Clinical Photography configuration card with the three enforcement options and their descriptions — The Patient Consent for Clinical Photography setting on the Preferences page allows selection between Disabled, Advisory, and Required enforcement levels.

What Required Restricts

For an account set to Required, the following are held for a patient without recorded consent:

Image Pool uploads: drag-and-drop and file picker uploads are refused on the Image Pool page and in the Image Pool drawer of an entry. An empty pool shows "Patient Photography Authorization Required" in place of the upload area; a pool that already holds images shows the same title in a banner above them.
Zone editing: zones in the Image Pool cannot be created or changed.
Full body photography: Start Session is disabled, and photographs added during capture or review are refused.

A refused upload, in the Image Pool or during capture or review, shows a "Cannot upload images" notification. The restriction lifts as soon as consent is recorded and returns if consent is revoked. Images already in the record stay available to view, compare, and export.

Record Consent

Select Document Consent or Begin Authorization on the banner to open the consent drawer. On the Patient Details page, unsaved changes to the patient record are saved or discarded first.

The drawer offers two methods, Digital Consent and External Verification. View Consent Details expands the full text of the selected method.

A digital signature is entered in the consent drawer and submitted, and the recorded consent replaces the authorization banner on the Image Pool.

Illustrative demo with synthetic data. Learn more

Digital Consent

Digital Consent records the patient's own agreement in Atlas, for example on a tablet during the appointment. The drawer is titled "Consent for Clinical Photography and Medical Imaging", and its details set out the purpose of the images, how they are used and protected, and the patient's rights, including withdrawing consent in writing at any time.

The patient reads the consent details.
The patient checks the box beside "By signing below, I confirm that I have read, understood, and agree to the terms outlined above regarding the capture and use of clinical images as part of my medical care."
The patient types their full name in the Digital Signature field, which appears once the box is checked.
Select Submit Digital Consent.

Consent form drawer showing the Digital Consent tab selected with the expandable consent description, confirmation checkbox checked, and digital signature text field filled in — The Digital Consent form includes an expandable consent description, a confirmation checkbox, and a digital signature field. All fields must be completed before submission.

External Verification

External Verification records consent obtained outside Atlas, such as a signed paper form or verbal agreement during a consultation. The drawer is titled "Verification of External Consent for Clinical Photography", and its details hold the provider attestation being recorded.

Select the method: Verbal, Written, or Other.
Optionally, describe how consent was obtained in Additional Notes.
Select Submit External Verification.

Consent form drawer showing the External Verification tab selected with the three method options (Verbal, Written, Other) and the optional notes text field — The External Verification form allows selection of the consent method used outside the application, with an optional notes field for additional context.

Viewing Recorded Consent

Once consent is recorded, a "Clinical Capture Consent Obtained" card with the date and time replaces the banner on every page of the patient.

On the Patient Details page, the card also shows the method (Digital Signature, Verbal Consent, Written Consent, or Other Method), the typed signature or the notes, and the Revoke Consent button. On the entry, Image Pool, and Full Body Photography pages, the card shows the status and time only.

Consent information card on the patient details page showing the Clinical Capture Consent Obtained status, timestamp, consent method details, and the Revoke Consent button — On the patient details page, the consent card shows the method, the time consent was recorded, and the option to revoke it.

Consent information card in its minimal variant as displayed on the clinical entry page or image pool page showing the green status and timestamp — The minimal consent card on entry and image pool pages confirms that consent has been obtained without displaying full details.

The Export Details and Export Full Report PDF reports include a Clinical Image Consent section when consent is recorded, with an Authorized badge, the date and time, the method, and the signature or the external method and notes.

Clinical Image Consent section as it appears in an exported PDF report showing the authorization badge, method details, and timestamp — The Clinical Image Consent section in exported PDF reports includes the authorization status, consent method, and timestamp.

Revoke Consent

On the Patient Details page, select Revoke Consent on the consent card.
Type REVOKE CLINICAL CAPTURE CONSENT in the confirmation field.
Select Revoke Consent.

The consent record is removed from the patient, and the banner returns for every account set to Advisory or Required. New consent can be recorded at any time.

Consent is revoked from the patient details page once the confirmation phrase is typed, and the authorization banner returns.

Illustrative demo with synthetic data. Learn more

Patient details page showing the consent information card with the Revoke Consent button highlighted — The Revoke Consent button is located on the consent information card on the patient details page. Clicking it opens a confirmation modal.

Revoke consent confirmation modal showing the explanation text, the confirmation phrase input field, and the Revoke Consent button — Revoking consent requires typing the confirmation phrase REVOKE CLINICAL CAPTURE CONSENT to prevent accidental removal of the consent record.

Consent in the Activity Log

When the deployment records comprehensive activity (the default Audit Logging level in Dermi Atlas Manager), recording and revoking consent each add an entry to the Patient Activity Logs, under the Consent filter. The entry names the account that acted and holds the consent details at that moment, so a revoked consent stays on record after it is removed from the patient.

Related Resources

Uploading and Organizing Images for the Image Pool
Documenting Full Body Photography Sessions for full body capture
Generating PDF Reports for the reports that carry the consent section
Audit Logging Configuration for the activity levels

Clinical Image Consent