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View all results of this resource type.Decision Aids Shown (Again) to Improve Decision Quality
The updated Cochrane Collaborative review of 86 randomized control trials (in six countries), involving 34 decisions, set out to find out how well decision aids prepare people to participate in decisions that involve weighing benefits, harms and scientific uncertainty. What the authors found was that decision aids not only improve the individual’s knowledge of their options, including the benefits and harms of those options, but decision aids also assist people in reaching choices that are more consistent with their informed values, while fostering collaboration with their provider. Continue reading
Posted in Current News
Tagged Cochrane Collaborative, decision aids, health care, shared decision making
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NEJM Article on Shared Decision Making and Patient-Centered Care
Dr. Michael J. Barry, president of the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation and Susan Edgman-Levitan, Foundation board member, are co-authors on a New England Journal of Medicine Perspectives article published today. In the article “Shared Decision Making – The Pinnacle of Patient-Centered Care," the authors explain that although advances in medicine continue to improve outcomes for patients as a whole, they can also leave patients and their families feeling disconnected from the decision making process and overwhelmed by their options. Continue reading
Posted in Current News
Tagged decision aids, health care, patient engagement, patient-centered care, shared decision making
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The Foundation's 2011 Annual Research & Implementation Report Now Available Online
The Informed Medical Decisions Foundation publishes this progress report each year on the research and demonstration site projects we provide support to through funding initiatives. In addition, the Report provides an overview of some of our key research and implementation accomplishments over the past year. Continue reading
MaineHealth Hosting Shared Decision Making Conference May 17th
MaineHealth, a demonstration site of the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation, will be hosting a conference on May 17th, featuring national and local experts on shared decision making (SDM). Attendees will have the opportunity to attend a number of sessions on topics such as end of life care, risk communication, decision aids, patient engagement and preference-sensitive care. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making: Who Benefits the Most May Surprise You
Not long ago, I was talking with a news reporter about an article we published on how surgical decisions are made. The paper reported that surgery patients too often were not given enough information about reasonable options. During our discussion the reporter remarked that the findings of the study were all well and good for some people, but didn’t apply to her elderly dad. Her dad would never have wanted to have information or be involved in medical decisions about his care. Instead, he would just look to his wife to tell him what to do. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making a Hot Topic at Health Journalism 2012 Conference
Last week the Association of Health Care Journalists held their Health Journalism 2012 conference in Atlanta, GA. Each year the conference seeks to provide context and clarity around health care issues that have taken center stage thanks to advances in medicine, political activity and public interest. So it's no surprise that shared decision making was a hot topic at this year’s conference. Dr. Michael J. Barry, president of the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation, was a member of the panel A reporter’s guide to medical decision making. Continue reading
MaineHealth Hosts its First Conference Dedicated to Shared Decision Making
Last week, MaineHealth, an Informed Medical Decisions Foundation demonstration site, held its first conference dedicated to shared decision making (SDM). The conference, entitled “Shared Decision Making: The Patient Voice in Health Care,” featured presentations from national and local experts on SDM, and focused on bringing the patient perspective into the health care delivery system. Continue reading
PSA Testing: Dr. Barry and Dr. McNaughton-Collins Voice their Opinions on NPR this Week
The debate over the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's (USPSTF) final recommendation on PSA testing continued this week. Michael Barry, president of the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation and Mary McNaughton-Collins, medical director, each had an opportunity to speak on NPR radio programs about the USPSTF recommendation this week. They voiced their views on the recommendation -- both from the perspective of the Foundation and as practicing primary care physicians. Continue reading
Highlights from our 9th Annual Summer Medical Editors Meeting
As many of our colleagues are spread across the country, our summer meeting is an opportunity for the many individuals who work on behalf of the Foundation to gather and reflect on what everyone has accomplished in the previous year and to get energized about upcoming projects. We were honored to have Otis Brawley, chief medical and scientific officer and executive vice president of the American Cancer Society, as well as the author of “How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks about Being Sick in America” as our keynote speaker this year. In addition to our keynote presentation, we had a stellar lineup of interactive and thought provoking sessions on Foundation-supported projects from staff, medical editors and esteemed guests. Continue reading
Group Health Study Shows the Use of Decision Aids was Linked with Sharply Reduced Rates of Elective Surgery for Arthritis
After introducing video-based decision aids for people with knee and hip osteoarthritis, Group Health Cooperative saw a significant drop in rates of elective knee and hip replacement surgeries, as well as a drop in the cost of care. According to an article in the September issue of Health Affairs, Group Health found that introducing these decision aids resulted in a 38 percent reduction in knee replacement surgeries, a 26 percent reduction in hip replacement surgeries and a 12 percent decline in health care costs over a six month period. Continue reading
Voices of Shared Decision Making with Peter Ubel
Each "Voices" blog segment will feature a person we believe has a unique and valuable perspective on shared decision making. Today's guest is Peter Ubel, MD, author of "Critical Decisions." 1) In your own words, what is shared decision making and how does it improve the quality of health care? Put simply, shared decision making is the gold standard -- the sine qua non* -- for how medical decisions ought to be made. The pipe medical choice is rarely a function of medical facts alone. Tough decisions require value judgments, and it is the patient’s values that often determine which choice is best. An operation cannot be a “success” unless it was the right course of action to take for an individual patient. Treatment cannot “work” unless it was the treatment that best fits that patient’s individual preferences. Quality of care begins with shared decision making. Continue reading
The President's Corner: September 2012
This month, a much anticipated study was published in Health Affairs that addresses something we are often asked at the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation: What are the effects of decision aids on utilization rates and medical costs? Researchers from Group Health Cooperative found that when decisions aids were used for patients making a decision about whether or not to have elective knee or hip replacement surgeries, there was a significant drop in surgical procedures as more patients opted for more conservative, less costly treatment options. Continue reading
Do You Understand Medicalese?
Health literacy affects everyone. Imagine you are trying to order food in a foreign country and you don’t speak the language. Just like learning a foreign language, understanding health information is a challenge -- one that everyone will face at least once in his or her lifetime. Health literacy, as defined by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) is “the degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand the basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” According to the most recent National Assessment of Adult Literacy report, only 12% of adults in the U.S. are proficient in reading, understanding and acting upon medical information, and even these individuals struggle to understand complex health information at times. This critical gap has significant medical consequences for society. Continue reading
Posted in Current News
Tagged decision aids, health information, health literacy, plain language
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New NEJM Perspectives Piece: Shared Decision Making to Improve Care and Reduce Costs
In the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), authors make a call to action for policymakers to take meaningful steps to implement what the authors call “the sleeper” shared decision making (SDM) provision of the Accountable Care Act (ACA). The authors, Emily Oshima Lee from the Center for American Progress and Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel from the University of Pennsylvania, make a compelling argument that the benefits of SDM with the use of decision aids -- improvements in patient knowledge, lower anxiety over the care process, improved health outcomes, reduction in unwarranted variation in care and costs, and greater alignment of care with patients’ values -- should warrant swift action on the provision of ACA (Section 3506) that relates directly to SDM implementation. Lee and Emanuel argue that the current pace of Section 3506 implementation is detrimental to both patients and the health care system as a whole. Continue reading
The President's Corner: December 2012
This year has been an extremely busy one for our team at the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation. As we mentioned in February when we launched our brand refresh, our look may have changed but our commitment to amplifying the patient’s voice in medical decisions has not. And I believe that is evident in what we’ve accomplished this year. So I’d like to take a moment to highlight just a few of our accomplishments in 2012 and what we have to look forward to in 2013. Continue reading
Posted in Current News, President's Corner
Tagged decision aids, Group Health, HVHC, Michael J. Barry, shared decision making
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The President's Corner: January/February 2013
The latest edition of Health Affairs focuses on a topic very near and dear to our hearts, patient engagement. Throughout the history of the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation, we have been dedicated to studying the components of patient engagement and how it affects the health care industry. Research shows that when patients are actively engaged in their care, they can experience better health outcomes, at lower costs. It gives me great pleasure to recognize the Foundation team members who are co-authors on publications in this edition of Health Affairs: New Era of Patient Engagement. Continue reading
Peter Ubel on Shared Decision Making
We are kicking off Shared Decision Making Month with our first guest post by Peter Ubel, physician and author of "Critical Decisions." We asked Peter a few questions about shared decision making and what you'll read below is his insightful take on what shared decision making is, what it isn't and why it is important to the future of medicine.
In your own words, what is shared decision making and how does it improve the quality of health care?
Put simply, shared decision making is the gold standard -- the sine qua non* -- for how medical decisions ought to be made. The right medical choice is rarely a function of medical facts alone. Tough decisions require value judgments, and it is the patient’s values that often determine which choice is best.
An operation cannot be a “success” unless it was the right course of action to take for an individual patient. Treatment cannot “work” unless it was the treatment that best fits that patient’s individual preferences. Quality of care begins with shared decision making. Continue reading
Thinking about MAGIC: Working to Normalize Shared Decision Making in the UK
The MAGIC (Making Good Decisions in Collaboration) program is exploring how shared decision making can be embedded in the core clinical practice of mainstream health services in the UK. The program is support by the Health Foundation and according to their website, “Our MAGIC programme is working with frontline health professionals and their priority projects across the UK to test how to embed best practice and overcome the barriers to change. We are one year into the programme and so far we’re seeing some interesting and inspiring results. We think we’re on our way to making healthcare more patient-centred and influencing more healthcare professionals to give patients the choice and involvement they are asking for.” In this guest post, Glyn Elwyn who co-lead the initial phase of the program with Richard Thomson, reflects back on his team’s involvement in MAGIC. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making Month Contributor Spotlight: Gary Schwitzer
Gary has specialized in health care journalism in his more than 30-year career in radio, television, interactive multimedia and the Internet. He is publisher of the website HealthNewsReview.org, leading a team of more than two dozen people who grade daily health news reporting by major U.S. news organizations. Previously, Gary was a tenured professor on the faculty of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, teaching health journalism and media ethics. Prior to that, he was the founding Editor-In-Chief of the MayoClinic.com consumer health website. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making Month Contributor Spotlight: Jessie Gruman
Jessie is president and founder of the Center for Advancing Health, a nonpartisan, Washington-based policy institute which, since 1992, has been supported by foundations and individuals to work on people's engagement in their health care from the patient perspective. Jessie draws on her own experiences of treatment for four cancer diagnoses, interviews with patients and caregivers surveys and peer-reviewed research as the basis of her work to describe and advocate for policies and practices to overcome the challenges people face in finding good care and getting the most from it. Continue reading
Join us for a SDM Month Tweet Chat Every Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET in March! #SDMchat
During each one hour tweet chat, a moderator and subject matter experts will lead a conversation about various aspects of shared decision making, including implementation in clinical practice, palliative care, integration into state and federal legislation, and patient engagement. All participants should include the hashtag #SDMchat in their tweets so the conversation can be archived. Continue reading
Posted in Current News, SDM Month
Tagged decision aids, federal legislation, March 2013, palliative care, patient engagement, patient-centered care, quality care, shared decision making, shared decision making implementation, Shared Decision Making Month, state legislation, Storify, tweet chat
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Shared Decision Making Month Contributor Spotlight: The Health Foundation
The Health Foundation is an independent charity working to continuously improve the quality of healthcare in the UK. The Foundation wants the UK to have a healthcare system of the highest possible quality -- safe, effective, person-centred, timely, efficient and equitable. The organization believes that in order to achieve this, health services need to continuously improve the way they work. The Foundation is here to inspire and create the space for people to make lasting improvements to health services. Working at every level of the system, The Health Foundation aims to develop the technical skills, leadership, capacity and knowledge, and build the will for change, to secure lasting improvements to healthcare. Visit The Health Foundation website. Follow The Health Foundation on Twitter: @HealthFdn. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making Month Contributor Spotlight: Angela Coulter
Angela, who is based in Oxford, England, coordinates the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation's international work. She is also a senior research scientist at the University of Oxford's Department of Public Health. Her previous roles include chief executive of Picker Institute Europe, executive director of policy and development at the King's Fund in London, and director of the Health Services Research Unit at the University of Oxford. Continue reading
A Fix for Shared Decision Making Implementation Failures
During Shared Decision Making Month, we will feature a number of guest bloggers who are working to advance shared decision making around the world. This guest post is by Don Kemper, MPH, Founder and CEO of Healthwise.
In my last visit with my doctor I asked if I should get a shot to prevent shingles. He didn’t think I needed it, but when I asked why not he gave me a link to a decision aid on his hospital’s website. He also promised that if I chose to get it I could just drop by—no appointment or visit would be needed. I stopped in the lobby and looked at the decision aid on my smart phone. It took me less than five minutes to reach my informed decision. I got the shot on the spot. It was easy on the clinical workflow and I appreciated saving the extra trip. Little by little, shared decision making is becoming a reality. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making Month's FREE Webinar Series
As part of Shared Decision Making (SDM) Month, we are excited to offer a series of FREE webinars throughout the month of March. These webinars will cover a variety of topics, including shared decision making implementation, maternity care, decision quality measurement and patient narratives. Space in these webinars is limited, so please register today to ensure your spot.
Bonus: Webinar attendees will be eligible to win a book written by an SDM Month Contributor. See webinar description for details. Continue reading
Posted in Current News, SDM Month
Tagged decision aids, decision quality measurement, March 2013, maternity care, patient narratives, patient perspective, patient-centered care, quality care, shared decision making, shared decision making implementation, Shared Decision Making Month, webinars
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Shared Decision Making Month Contributor Spotlight: Group Health Cooperative
Group Health Cooperative is a member-governed, nonprofit health care system that coordinates care and coverage. Founded in 1947 and based in Seattle, Wash., Group Health and its subsidiary health carriers, Group Health Options, Inc. and KPS Health Plans, serve more than 600,000 residents of Washington and North Idaho. The Group Health Research Institute recently conducted the first study of its kind investigating how the use of decision aids in routine clinical practice can affect care and costs. It was also the first major study of decision aids for knee and hip osteoarthritis. Trial results showed that people who had access to the decision aids tended to choose more conservative, less invasive options. Follow Group Health on Twitter: @grouphealth. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making Month is Here: Let's Talk Implementation
Shared Decision Making (SDM) Month has finally arrived! Over the next four weeks, an all-star lineup of experts will contribute to a variety of events focused on how shared decision making can improve the quality of health care and help make care more patient-centered.
The theme of the first week (March 4-8) is “Shared Decision Making Implementation in the Real World.” Throughout the week, we will hear from SDM Month contributors about the nature of implementing shared decision making into clinical practice, including the development and integration of decision aids. Continue reading
Posted in Current News, SDM Month
Tagged Adrian Sieff, Angela Coulter, Annie LeBlanc, Charles Keller, decision aids, Donald Kemper, Engaging Patients, Glyn Elwyn, Group Health, Ishani Ganguli, Jeff Belkora, March 2013, Mayo Clinic, Megan Bowen, Nancy Rothman, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, patient-centered care, quality care, shared decision making, shared decision making implementation, Shared Decision Making Month, The Health Foundation, Victor Montori
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Shared Decision Making Month Contributor Spotlight: Nancy Rothman
Nancy is the Independence Foundation Professor of Urban Community Nursing in the Department of Nursing, College of Health Professions and Social Work of Temple University, where she serves as director of community-based practices. Nancy is also research chair of the National Nursing Centers Consortium, an Informed Medical Decisions Foundation-supported demonstration site. Her research focuses upon primary health care and community-defined health risks and prevention/intervention strategies. She serves as a consultant to the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) Nursing Network, a network of nurse practitioner-led primary care practices. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making Month Contributor Spotlight: Palo Alto Medical Foundation
The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) is a nonprofit health care organization and a pioneer in multispecialty group practice of medicine. PAMF is a member of Sutter Health, a family of hospitals and physician organizations serving more than 100 communities in Northern California. After merging with two other divisions under the PAMF name, the organization employs more than 1,000 physicians and serves more than 700,000 patients. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making Month Contributor Spotlight: Charles Keller
Charlie is a family care physician and shared decision making champion at Mercy Clinics, Inc. in Des Moines, IA. Mercy Clinics is also an Informed Medical Decisions Foundation demonstration site. His decision to join Mercy Clinics was influenced in large part by their history of innovation in patient-centered care and the use of health coaches. He has been involved in both inpatient and outpatient quality assurance projects a, and enjoys the challenges of implementing their ideas in the real-world setting. He remains a full-time practitioner focused on delivering high-quality individualized care with an emphasis on patient education. When he is not working he is devoted to his wonderful family, and enjoys photography, reading and whitewater rafting when the time allows. Continue reading
Getting Shared Decision Making Tools Right: Insight from Mayo Clinic’s Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit
Today’s blog post was written after speaking with Victor Montori and Annie LeBlanc, both members of Mayo Clinic’s Knowledge and Evaluation Research (KER) Unit. KER was formed in 2004 to translate medical evidence into clinical practice using shared decision making as its main methodology. The KER Unit has been designing and studying decision tools in clinical practice for eight years. In this guest post, we provide highlights of some of the Unit’s work and lessons learned from developing and implementing shared decision making tools. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making Month Contributor Spotlight: Maureen Corry
Maureen has served as executive director of Childbirth Connection since 1995, positioning the organization as a powerful and effective advocate for evidence-based maternity care and maternity care quality improvement. She has 30 years experience as a researcher, educator, and policy analyst on maternal and newborn health issues. Maureen is co-leading the multi-year maternity initiative in collaboration with the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation. She is currently a member of the board of directors of the National Quality Forum (NQF) and the AMA/Physicians Consortium for Performance Improvement Maternity Workgroup. She also serves as co-chair of the 2012 National Priorities Partnership/Partnership for Patients Maternity Care Action Team, which is working to catalyze action to improve maternity care for mothers and babies. Maureen holds an MPH in health administration from Yale School of Public Health. Continue reading
Implementation Week Wrap-up and a Look Ahead to Next Week's Continuum of Care Events
Week one of shared decision making (SDM) Month did not disappoint with great insight from providers, health systems, patients and others on the benefits and barriers to implementing shared decision making. We heard about innovative ways shared decision making is being implemented in the U.S. during Wednesday’s Shared Decision Making in the Real World webinar and got an international perspective during Tuesday’s first #SDMchat .
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Shared Decision Making Month Contributor Spotlight: David Arterburn
David is an associate investigator at the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle. He is also chair of the health services research section for The Obesity Society and chair of the obesity special interest group for the HMO Research Network. With the support of the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation, for whom he serves as a medical editor, he has collaborated with Group Health’s specialty leadership to implement and evaluate a new initiative to promote shared decision making around elective surgical care with video-based patient decision aids. Continue reading
Shared Decision Making Along the Continuum of Care Wrap-up and a Preview of Policy and Decision Quality Week
Week Two of Shared Decision Making (SDM) Month was extremely thought-provoking with insight about how and when shared decision making is appropriate along the care continuum. We heard about the need to empower women to be active participants in their maternity care decisions during Wednesday’s webinar and discussed the relationship between shared decision making and palliative care in Tuesday’s tweet chat. In addition, we heard from a powerhouse panel of leading health care experts about the role of shared decision making in maternity care, mental health, diagnosis and end of life care during Wednesday evening’s in-person panel. Continue reading
A Personal Call for Greater Use of Shared Decision Making
Recently, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel and I called for more rapid certification of patient decision aids and for reforms to the Medicare payment system to incentive smarter, more widespread use of shared decision making. Our proposals were based on strong evidence that using simple but effective decision aids to make preference sensitive decisions about our health can lead to patients being more knowledgeable about their medical options and potential risks, and taking a more active role in treatment decisions. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
