This study aimed to understand the current situation of public’s cognition on informed consent system, analyze the key points and difficulties in the implementation of the system, and explore the improvement measures. 15 typical cases, phenomena or opinions were used as the subjects to evaluate whether the respondents agreed or not, and the data were analyzed. 72.0% of the respondents had a strong sense of self?determination; the public expected to receive comprehensive medical information. The practice of making decisions on behalf of close relatives still has a large public opinion basis. 49.0% of respondents have high expectations on the content and disclosure standards of informed consent. We should change ideas and objectively understand the patients’ participation in medical decision?making, communicate effectively and ensure that patients fully understand the conditions and treatment plans, and then guide properly and promote patients to exercise their rights of informed consent according to law.