About Us
The Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making is a non-profit organization leading changes to ensure that health care decisions are made with the active participation of fully informed patients. We are dedicated to advancing research, policy, and clinical models that ensure that patients understand their choices and have the information they need to make sound decisions about their health and well-being. Our mission is to inform and amplify the patient’s voice in health care decisions.
Our efforts focus on:
∙ Developing high quality decision aids
∙ Funding research to advance learning
∙ Supporting model demonstration sites
∙ Advancing our vision through outreach and advocacy
Decision Support
From its inception, the Foundation has built a state-of-the-art portfolio of decision support tools in various formats to help patients make informed choices. Our materials provide an organized summary of the current evidence and clearly explain all related risks and benefits.
Research
Funding research to expand our knowledge of medical decision-making reinforces our understanding of the best ways to support patients and providers in the medical encounter.
Demonstration Sites
By supporting demonstrations in primary and specialty care, we learn how to integrate shared decision-making and the use of decision aids into day-to-day patient care.
Outreach
To accomplish our mission and advance the goal of informed medical decision-making, the Foundation reaches out to share its vision with individuals and organizations across the spectrum of health and medicine.
What We Believe
At The Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, we believe that optimal medical decisions require fully informed patients who participate fully in a shared decision-making process, rather than delegating decisions to their doctors. We believe that one medical answer can never be right for all people. The decision that will best serve a particular patient often depends on the patient's own preferences and values. And the treatment that is best for one patient may not be best for another in exactly the same situation.
A Basic Patient Right
At the Foundation, we consider the opportunity to engage in the process of shared decision-making to be a basic right of every patient. By funding research projects and demonstration sites, we foster greater understanding of the many benefits of shared decision-making and help providers learn how to best use shared decision-making in their day-to-day practice.