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Research
Welcome to the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation library of studies, articles and research overviews related to the topic areas we care about most. In our collection you will find the following resources:
- Shared Decision-Making® Program Research: These studies evaluate and test our suite of decision aids.
- Featured Shared Decision Making Publications: This resource includes key articles and studies that provide insight into the best methods of informing and engaging patients and how doing so can help improve the quality of health care.
- Foundation Perspectives: These succinct white papers, written by our senior scientific advisor, Floyd J. Fowler, PhD, look at common questions about the shared decision making process and provide our best answers based on the current available research.
- Funded Research: Each year, the Foundation funds research that evaluates various aspects of medical decision making. Summaries of these projects are included in this resource collection. Learn more about applying for funding.
Our Library
Below you will find samples of our most recent acquisitions, grouped by resource type.
Shared Decision-Making® Program Research
View all results of this resource type.Introducing Decision Aids at Group Health was Linked to Sharply Lower Hip and Knee Surgery Rates and Costs
September 4, 2012
Arterburn D, Wellman R, Westbrook E, et al. Introducing decision aids at Group Health was linked to sharply lower hip and knee surgery rates and costs. Health Aff. 2012 Sept 4;(9):2094-104.… Continue reading
Feasibility and Acceptability of a Decision Aid Designed for People Facing Advanced or Terminal Illness: A Randomized Trial
October 28, 2011
Matlock DD, Keech TA, McKenzie MB, et al. Feasibility and acceptability of a decision aid designed for people facing advanced or terminal illness: a randomized trial. Health Expect. 2011. [Epub ahead of print]. Read the abstract. Continue reading
Posted in Patient Decision Aids
Tagged decision aids, Shared Decision-Making® programs, terminal illness
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Featured Shared Decision Making Publications
View all results of this resource type.Shared Decision Making to Improve Care and Reduce Costs
January 3, 2013
A sleeper provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) encourages greater use of shared decision making in health care. For many health situations in which there's not one clearly superior course of treatment, shared decision making can ensure that medical care better aligns with patients' preferences and values. One way to implement this approach is by using patient decision aids -- written materials, videos, or interactive electronic presentations designed to inform patients and their families about care options; each option's outcomes, including benefits and possible side effects; the health care team's skills; and costs. Shared decision making has the potential to provide numerous benefits for patients, clinicians, and the health care system, including increased patient knowledge, less anxiety over the care process, improved health outcomes, reductions in unwarranted variation in care and costs, and great alignment of care with patients' values.… Continue reading
Posted in Cost, Decision Aid Effectiveness, Health Care Policy, Patient Decision Aids, Patient Preferences, SDM Implementation
Tagged ACA, CMS, Cochrane Collaborative, decision aids, Group Health, health care costs, HHS, IOM, IPDAS, Medicare, NEJM, PCORI, practice variation, shared decision making
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Communicating with Patients on Health Care Evidence
September 25, 2012
This discussion paper argues for the increased use of shared decision making practices, citing that patients want to be involved in evidence and decisions, that there is a gap between this and what patients get, and that patient satisfaction is linked to shared decision making. These conclusions were reached through research in three stages: environmental scan, qualitative interviews and focus groups, and quantitative survey.… Continue reading
Informed Medical Decisions Foundation Perspectives
View all results of this resource type.Patients Want to be Involved
May 1, 2011
Imprecisely worded and poorly designed survey questions have caused considerable confusion about the degree to which patients want to be involved in medical decisions. When questions are worded such that patients understand that they are not being asked to make decisions requiring technical clinical information and particularly when respondents have been given basic information about the decision they are facing, survey data are extremely consistent; most patients want to be informed and to play a direct and active role in the decision making process.… Continue reading
Striving for Balance & Fairness
February 1, 2011
One of our primary goals at the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation is to strive for balance and fairness when helping patients understand medical decisions. At the core of our organization is the conviction that the best medical decisions are made when patients are well informed and active participants in the decision making process. A balanced presentation gives patients the best chance to work in partnership with their providers and make the decision that will serve them best.… Continue reading
Posted in Decision Aid Components, Patient Decision Aids
Tagged decision support, evidence-based medicine
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Informed Medical Decisions Foundation Funded Research
View all results of this resource type.Enhancing Comprehension of Graphically Presented Medical Data: Designs to Help People with Low Graph Literacy
September 20, 2012
In order to make informed medical decisions, patients need to understand information about risks, benefits and drawbacks of different treatments. However, research on health literacy and medical decision making has shown that patients in different cultures have severe problems grasping a host of numerical concepts that are prerequisites for understanding health-relevant statistical information. Graphical displays -- including line plots, bar charts or icon arrays -- often facilitate the communication of numerical information, and can help overcome some of these difficulties.… Continue reading
Effects of Decision Ambiguity on Shared Medical Decision Making
September 30, 2011
To evaluate the impact of ambiguity on shared medical decision making using scenarios on future medicine and unconventional medicine. To develop and test a decision aid tool to help patients and physicians understand ambiguity and to encourage a shared medical decision making process that is applicable to ambiguous decisions that involve future medicine and unconventional medicine. … Continue reading
