The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Why & How to Pursue Shared Decision Making with Your Patients

Why & How to Pursue Shared Decision Making with Your Patients

June 21, 2018 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

If researchers find the tool does improve shared decision making, they hope to work with health technology and electronic medical systems to get the system embedded in the electronic medical system. Patients could access the surveys prior to their visits and then have the surveys included as part of their permanent medical records.

You Might Also Like
  • Why & How Doctors Should Foster Shared Decision Making with Patients
  • Engage Patients as Partners in Shared Decision-making
  • Give Them Time: 3 Tips for Using Time with Patients to Aid Shared Decision Making
Explore This Issue
June 2018
Also By This Author
  • Study: Can Avacopan Replace Steroids in ANCA-Associated Vasculitis?

“As you talk about patient-provider communication and shared decision making, it is two parties that are at play,” notes Dr. Cozad.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Barriers: Physician Attitudes

Data from patient surveys indicate a gap often exists between physicians’ and patients’ perceptions of how much shared decision making is taking place. Although many providers report they engage in shared decision-making practices, patients may not share this perspective.6 Thus, decisions may not be as truly shared as physicians often believe.

Dr. Desai believes that shifting physicians’ attitudes is another key component to increase shared decision making. Clinicians who have conducted their visits a certain way over many years may be unlikely to change unless they see a problem.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

“If people feel they understand what their options are and feel like you have made a decision together, they are more likely to be adherent, but they are also more likely to achieve their target. It’s all connected to overall having better improvement in the quality of care,” says Dr. Desai. She adds, “Most rheumatologists would see the value in trying to get all of their patients into remission or low disease activity if that’s an appropriate goal for that patient. I think that if we frame it that the shared decision making is a means to that end, … people are more likely to get on board.”

Practicalities

Assessing levels of shared decision making and integrating quality improvement methods are challenges in a research setting as well. As part of a research grant, Dr. Desai’s group is assessing shared decision making in rheumatoid arthritis in the context of physicians’ patient notes. However, she says this may not be a very reliable way to assess how much shared decision making is really happening, because physicians are not expected to document every aspect of the clinical encounter. Patient surveys are another avenue to investigate patients’ perceptions of shared decision making.13

Dr. Desai recommends that clinicians working in a group setting set aside time together to compare notes about how they handle patient education and shared decision making. Her team is also reinitiating a focus group of rheumatoid arthritis patients who can provide feedback on patient desires and shared communication. They also use an existing patient support group to ask patients about their preferences for educational materials to help guide shared decision making.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | Single Page

Filed Under: Patient Perspective Tagged With: patient-centered care, physician patient relationship, shared decision makingIssue: June 2018

You Might Also Like:
  • Why & How Doctors Should Foster Shared Decision Making with Patients
  • Engage Patients as Partners in Shared Decision-making
  • Give Them Time: 3 Tips for Using Time with Patients to Aid Shared Decision Making
  • Is Shared Decision Making Possible in Rheumatology?

About Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD, was born and raised in eastern Kentucky, where she first cultivated her love of literature, writing and personal narratives. She attended Kenyon college, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, summa cum laude. She worked with individuals with psychiatric conditions and later in a neuroscience lab at the University of Illinois, Chicago, before graduating from Indiana University Medical School in 2011. Instead of pursuing clinical medicine, Ruth opted to build on her strength of clearly explaining medical topics though a career as a freelance medical writer, writing both for lay people and for health professionals. She writes across the biomedical sciences, but holds strong interests in rheumatology, neurology, autoimmune diseases, genetics, and the intersection of broader social, cultural and emotional contexts with biomedical topics. Ruth now lives in Bloomington, Ind., with her husband, son and cat. She can be contacted via her website at ruthjessenhickman.com.

View more by this author»

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2022 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)