Rather than informing patients of the varying treatments and surgeries, healthcare providers often take it upon themselves to choose the patient’s treatment path. If patients do not understand the options for treatment and surgery, they may undergo procedures that they find less preferable than other options. Researchers say this is the cause for wide variation in elective treatments and procedures for conditions and diseases such as lower back pain and breast cancer.
“Some of the most important choices in medicine are not the clinician’s alone to make. Patient preference is especially important when facing a test, surgery or treatment that is elective. In order to ensure that patients get the treatment that is right for them, the choice should be a shared decision,” said Michael Barry, MD, report co-author and president of the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making.
Read the study about shared decision-making by Dartmouth Atlas and the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making (pdf).
Read other coverage about patient safety:
– Sample Survey of Device Use for Sharps Injury Prevention Program
– Proposed Legislation Seeks to Penalize Hospitals That Repeatedly Violate Hospital Staffing Law
– Study: Electronic Prediction of MRSA More Efficient and Cost-Effective
