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Tag Archives: Group Health
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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
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
Shared Decision-Making® Program Research
View all results of this resource type.Featured Shared Decision Making Publications
View all results of this resource type.Shared Decision Making to Improve Care and Reduce Costs
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
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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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Introducing Decision Aids at Group Health was Linked to Sharply Lower Hip and Knee Surgery Rates and Costs
An observational study reporting the changes in surgical rates and costs in the first eighteen months following the start of a program to introduce decision aids for hip and knee osteoarthritis in the Group Health system. They found a 38% reduction in knee surgeries and a 26% reduction in hip surgeries; findings consistent with results from randomized studies of decision aids. Continue reading
In The News
View all results of this resource type.[HealthLeaders Media] Informed Decision Tools Largely Reduce Ortho Joint Surgeries
"The two decision tools, which were developed by the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation in Boston and Health Dialog, explain to patients details of the surgery they are about to have, what non-surgical options exist, what life-style changes they could make, and what physical therapy and walking aids or pain medications, or complementary and alternative therapies might be selected instead of surgery."Read the full article.
[The Boston Globe] Do You Really Need a Knee Replacement?
"Dr. David Arterburn, lead author of the Health Affairs study and a researcher at Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, calls the procedure 'preference-sensitive' because the choice to have one isn't made solely on objective measures. That's where decision aids come in. The goal, he said, is 'to make sure that patients understand that there is more than one option when it comes to osteoarthritis treatment."The decision aids referenced in this article were developed by the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation. Read the full article.
