Shared Decision Making

Editor's Notes

• #3: In shared decision making, a doctor shares with his or her patient all relevant information on the possible risks and benefits of detection and treatment options for a particular health condition. And the patient considers what might make him or her prefer or tolerate one treatment, side effect, or outcome more or less than others. Then, in conversations with their doctors, patients clarify their preferences, weigh their options, and make the choice that’s right for them. The goal of shared decision making is to reduce the imbalance in information between the provider and patient when health care decisions are being made. It is not to encourage patients to select any particular treatment option.
• #4: The process is especially useful for health conditions where there is more than one treatment option, each treatment option has different pros and cons—and there’s little evidence to say one choice is better than another. In these situations, an individual patient’s own preferences regarding the risks and benefits of the various treatment options should guide their decision. Such “preference-sensitive” treatment situations are common in clinical “gray areas,” including, for example, treatment for low back pain, osteoarthritis in the knees and hips, prostate cancer, or early-stage breast cancer.
• #5: Many doctors offer their patients decision aids, such as brochures, DVDs, and online applications, which can help to educate and guide a patient through complex decision making tasks, such as deciding whether or not to have elective surgery or cancer screening. Decision aids are sources of information about a patient’s health condition and the various treatment options including their risks and benefits, and they help facilitate high-quality shared decision making between patients and providers. Patient decision aids do not advise people to choose one option over another, nor are they meant to replace provider consultation. Instead, they prepare patients to make informed, values-based decisions with their provider.
• #6: Decision aids have the following characteristics: Evidence-based, frequently updated, and balanced presentations of the treatment options Helpful to patients in clarifying their values and preferences Useful for guiding patients in deliberation and in communication with their doctors
• #7: What’s the current evidence regarding the outcomes of using decision aids such as brochures, DVDs, and online tools? A systematic review of 34 randomized controlled trials revealed strong evidence that decision tools can improve the quality of patients’ decisions in these ways: Increased knowledge More active participation in the decision Less feeling of conflict over the decision and a lower proportion of people who remain undecided Better alignment between values and choices More satisfaction with the decision But the impact of patient decision tools on health care utilization, costs, and health outcomes is not so clear. Available evidence from seven randomized controlled trials suggests that decision aids may reduce the proportion who choose to undergo elective surgical procedures. In these seven studies, the rates of use of the most invasive surgical procedures declined by 23% in favor of more conservative surgical or medical options. There was no evidence of harms from missed opportunities for surgical procedures. Two key studies of patient decision aids were performed at Group Health. The first assessed the impact of a video-based patient decision aid for benign prostatic hyperplasia versus an informational booklet among 227 men with that condition. Patients randomized to the decision aid had significantly better knowledge of their condition and satisfaction with the decision-making process, and overall they chose prostatectomy 26 percent less often. The second study assessed the impact of a video-based patient decision aid versus a booklet among 393 participants considering elective back surgery. Among patients with lumbar herniated discs, the decision aid group had a 22% lower rate of low back surgery than the control group, and both groups had similar symptomatic and functional outcomes. More research is needed to confirm findings regarding use of shared decision making aids in larger populations and to determine if the related changes in health care translate into cost savings while not diminishing long-term health outcomes. Group Health is currently conducting research on patient decision aids to help answer these questions.
• #9: Group Health (GH) is currently undertaking a system-wide implementation of shared decision making (SDM) with video-based patient decision aids (DA) for 12 preference-sensitive health conditions related to elective surgical procedures. Assessment of effectiveness of decision aids is funded by grants from The Commonwealth Fund, the Group Health Foundation and the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making. A company called Health Dialog is providing the decision aids to Group Health free of charge.
• #10: What is Group Health’s role in shared decision making?   Group Health has a long history of commitment to patient-centered care. This is most recently shown by its early adoption of shared electronic medical records and current promotion of the medical home model of primary care. Shared decision making is an integral part of these initiatives.
• #11: In January 2009, Group Health began making shared decision aids systematically available to patients related to elective surgical procedures in 6 specialty areas.
• #12: The decision tools address treatment choices in for 12 preference-sensitive conditions: Orthopedic: hip and knee osteoarthritis Cardiac: coronary artery disease Urology: benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer Women’s health: uterine fibroids and abnormal uterine bleeding Breast cancer: early-stage breast cancer, breast reconstruction, and ductal carcinoma in situ Back care: low back pain resulting from spinal stenosis and herniated disc Group Health providers can discuss their patients’ options with the help of booklets, DVDs, and online videos on these topics.
• #13: Patients get access to the videos through MyGroupHealth; they must have full, password-authenticated access to MyGroupHealth to view these videos. There patients can choose the video for their health condition and watch in the privacy of their home or office. Alternatively, patients can also request to have a DVD copy of the video mailed to their home by calling the Group Health Resource Line Videos can also be ordered through EPIC for delivery to patients by mail.
• #15: Shared decision making with decisions aids is being evaluated by a team at the Group Health Research Institute using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Since January 2009, we have been capturing data on all decision aids that are ordered through our electronic medical record, viewed online, requested via telephone from our Resource Line, and handed out in clinical settings. We have completed programming procedures to aggregate data on decision aid ordering and viewing from all sources. To document the impact of the SDM implementation on providers and staff in our Group Practice Division, our research team has begun interviewing providers and clinic leaders. To date, nine individual provider interviews have been completed in the Orthopedics and Cardiology service lines. Providers in the Cardiology service line have received a recruitment letter and 6 interviews are scheduled for January and February. The team plans to interview 9-10 Cardiology providers. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts from the interviews with Orthopedics and Cardiology providers is ongoing. Interviews with senior clinical leaders in Urology, Women’s Health, and General Surgery have also been completed. Observations of service line meetings and clinical site observations are ongoing as appropriate. The Neurosurgery leadership interview was postponed due to leadership changes, but will be conducted in 2010. <note: update?> The research team continues to conduct quarterly interviews with SDM implementation team project managers and clinical leaders to document variations in implementation processes as well as barriers and facilitators to implementation in the GPD. Patient satisfaction is assessed through the online survey linked from MyGroupHealth
• #16: Decision Aid Use: The figure shows the total volume of DAs delivered at GH since January 19, 2009. As of March 12, 2010, we had distributed a total of 4,271 DAs. Because of changes in our data systems in November 2009, we don’t have data aggregated on videos viewed through the web from 11/09-3/10, but those data will be available to us by the end of the next quarter. Through November 2009, approximately 80% of the DAs were distributed in DVD format via mail, and 20% were viewed on the web. The figure shows that our delivery of DAs has been generally stable since June. The Orthopedic service line continues to lead the way among all specialties in distribution of the DAs, and they distribute about 170 DAs per month (140 knee osteoarthritis; 30 hip osteoarthritis). They are followed by Women’s Health (70 DAs per month) and Urology (50 DAs per month). * RL – Phone = mailed DVD after phone request by member; Provider/Support/Unknown = mailed DVD ordered through Epic; WEB = view on MyGroupHealth website