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Advancing Shared Decision Making
For over two decades, the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation has been working to advance shared decision making through research, policy, clinical models and patient decision aids. We believe that the only way to ensure high quality medical decisions are being made is for a fully informed patient to participate in a shared decision making process with their health care provider.
Current News from Informed Medical Decisions Foundation
The President’s Corner: May 2013
Shared decision making to inform and involve patients in their health care decisions is gaining great momentum as a strategy to improve the quality and value of health care. However, making patient participation in decisions the rule, and not the exception, is challenging. Now is the time to convene patient advocates, providers, health care systems, policy makers and insurers to engage in a critical discussion about how to address this challenge and make it easier to do the right thing by informing and involving patients when it matters most — when a decision is looming.
Next week, the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation will be hosting a key stakeholder meeting in Washington, D.C. to stimulate a conversation about engaging patients in their health care decisions. “Aligning Incentives for Patient Engagement: Enabling Widespread Implementation of Shared Decision Making” will bring leaders together in an effort to create a roadmap for sustainable models of patient engagement through shared decision making. I’m extraordinarily pleased to be co-sponsoring this event with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
We hope that everyone attending the meeting, either in-person or virtually, will leave with actionable steps to promote patient engagement both locally and nationally. We invite you and your colleagues to watch the live broadcast of this event and join the Twitter conversation by following #SDMincentives.
Dr. Michael J. Barry
President, Informed Medical Decisions Foundation
Upcoming Stakeholder Meeting Aims to Raise Awareness of Misaligned Incentives in Health Care Reimbursement
In recent years, efforts to implement shared decision making (SDM) in routine clinical practice have advanced; however, implementation has proved challenging and numerous reports have identified misaligned incentives in health care reimbursement as a root cause. On May 23 and 24, leading researchers, providers, policy makers and payers focused on facilitating widespread implementation of shared decision making will convene in Washington, D.C. to participate in a critical discussion about how to better align incentives to foster this spread. Continue reading
An Interview with Ishani Ganguli, MD
As part of the first-ever Shared Decision Making Month this past March, the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation interviewed Dr. Ishani Ganguli, a second-year resident at Massachusetts General Hospital’s own primary care innovation, the Ambulatory Practice of the Future (APF) and Short White Coat blogger. The APF focuses on empowering patients to be more engaged and involved in their health care by placing the patient at the very center of the care team. Ishani was drawn to APFs model of innovation and desire to understand the whole patient over a period of time. During our conversation with Ishani, we will hear how the APF is changing the future of primary care through technology, space and processes, and how shared decision making plays a role at the practice. Continue reading
American College of Physicians Endorses Shared Decision Making Approach for Prostate Cancer Screening
In a guidance statement published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the American College of Physicians (ACP) joined the heated discussion on PSA testing by endorsing a shared decision making approach for prostate cancer screening. The ACP Clinical Guidelines Committee developed this guidance statement after reviewing current guidelines on prostate cancer screening in the U.S.
To this end, a shared decision making approach is appropriate for decisions about prostate cancer screening due to the preference-sensitive nature of the decision. We believe it is imperative that patient preferences be incorporated in the decision-making process and applaud the ACP for supporting a shared decision making approach for decisions about prostate cancer screening. By having an informed conversation about a diagnostic tool and disease that is often poorly understood, men can feel confident that they’ve made the decision that’s right for them. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making Month Comes to a Close: A Personal Thank You to All Those Who Participated
I’d like to start by thanking everyone who has contributed to Shared Decision Making (SDM) Month. We’ve been overwhelmed by the support of this initiative. During the month of March we have heard from roughly 50 contributors representing a variety of perspectives on how fostering a health care system where shared decision making is the norm, is critical. We have also heard time and again that shared decision making is essential to providing patients with the high-quality care that patients deserve. However, contributors have also shown that the complex and fragmented nature of health care systems can make it difficult to take shared decision making theory and turn it into meaningful and sustainable everyday practice. Continue reading
