During this global pandemic, completing a health care directive or revising an existing directive is essential for all adults. Download the Honoring Choices Minnesota COVID-19 ACP Guide to help your patients through the process of advance care planning in the context of COVID-19.

A surprisingly low percentage of Medicare enrollees who undergo low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for lung cancer participate in a shared decision-making (SDM) session prior to the screening, in spite of a reimbursement requirement to do so, according to a new analysis. Among those who do have an SDM session, a high percentage opt to avoid the screening.

This approximately 1-hour course will explore shared decision-making, a model of patient-centered care. Topics include defining and describing the shared decision-making approach, when and how to make use of shared decision-making, and what steps should be taken when implementing this model in your organizational setting.

The National Quality Forum (NQF) believes shared decision-making has the power to improve patient outcomes, reduce preventable hospital readmission rates, improve patient satisfaction, and increase patient engagement with care and recovery. NQF has made it its mission to educate providers about shared decision-making, working to integrate it as a standard of patient care.

Canadian pharmacists involved in a publicly-funded initiative that reimburses them for medication review and diabetes education for patients who have type 1 or type 2 diabetes have published an article that describes incorporating a decision aid for patients into their medication review and diabetes education.

This Patient Engagement in HIT article explores how implementing a valuable and patient-centered shared decision-making strategy hinges on strong patient outreach. Clinicians working to improve shared decision-making need to leverage patient education techniques, assess patient cultural and personal preferences, and involve patient family members and caregivers into treatment decisions.

This Wall Street Journal Health article tells how researchers and health care providers are figuring out how to untie the doctor-knows-best knot and get patients to take charge of their own health.

NPR and Kaiser Health News report on how a Maryland physician teamed up with an environmental scientist to develop a visual approach for helping patients understand the medical risks and benefits of medical tests and treatments.

“Shared decision making supported by evidence-guided medical therapy and incremental interventions lays the foundation for a more permissive approach to not only allowing, but potentially encouraging participation in physical activity, including competitive sports.”

A single-page shared decision-making tool helps low-risk chest patients who present to the emergency department better understand their health status and options and may reduce the use of stress tests and imaging, possibly cutting costs, all without increasing risk, a new study suggests.