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Shared Decision-Making: Improves care while lowering costs

A report published in the New England Journal of Medicine touts that shared decision-making provides many benefits for patients, clinicians, and the healthcare system as a whole. These benefits include improved patient knowledge, less anxiety over the care process, improved health outcomes, reductions in unwarranted variation in care and costs, and better alignment of care with patients’ values. 

Even the Affordable Care Act (ACA) thinks so. It has a provision in it that encourages greater use of shared decision-making in health care.

Patients and their families often get confused and overwhelmed when making complex medical decisions where there is more than one treatment option. Shared decision-making, a collaborative process between patients and their physicians, can help clear up questions efficiently and better aligns patients’ preferences and values with treatment plans.

Decision aids

One key to shared decision making is using patient decision aids…

Shared Decision-Making New England Journal of Medicine | Decision Aids