What aspect of informed consent promotes patient autonomy?

Understanding treatment risks and benefits is crucial to promoting patient autonomy. Informed consent is rooted in the principle that patients should have the ability to make decisions regarding their healthcare based on a thorough understanding of the potential outcomes of their treatment options. When patients are provided with comprehensive information about the risks and benefits of a proposed treatment, they can weigh this information according to their values and preferences, enabling them to make informed and voluntary decisions about their care.

By contrast, the other options do not enhance patient autonomy. Providing financial incentives may influence a patient's decision but does not inherently improve their understanding or control over their treatment choices. Minimizing physician accountability may lead to diminished trust and may compromise the quality of care, which is not aligned with patient empowerment. Limiting patient choices directly undermines the autonomy that informed consent is designed to protect, as it restricts a patient's ability to make fully informed decisions about their own health.