Tag Archives: Shared Decision Making

Shared Decision Making

Questions older Americans should ask their surgeon

Larry McMahon, who turns 80 this month, is weighing whether to undergo a major surgery. Over the past five years, his back pain has intensified. Physical therapy, muscle relaxants, and injections aren’t offering relief. “It’s a pain that leaves me hardly able to do anything,” he said. Should McMahon, a retired Virginia state trooper who […]

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Judith Graham Judith Graham writes the Navigating Aging series for Kaiser Health News, which focuses on medical issues and advice associated with aging and end-of-life care, helping America’s 45 million seniors and their families navigate the health care system. To contact Judith Graham with a question or comment, click here.

Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News has 8 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org


Health Literacy

Health Literacy: Making the Case to Organizations

Editor’s note: October has been Health Literacy Month, so I’ve often thought of Christopher Trudeau, who has contributed a number of posts to this blog over the years. Trudeau is affiliated with both the law and medical schools at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. He is also a member of the International Health Literacy Association’s […]

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Susan Carr Susan Carr is a medical editor and writer specializing in patient safety and engagement. In addition to curating the EngagingPatients blog, she produces publications for the Betsy Lehman Center in Boston and the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine. Susan lives and works in Lunenburg, Massachusetts.

Susan Carr has 185 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org

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Patient Engagement

Further Adventures on the Learning Curve

Earlier this month, I wrote about a friend who went through a coronary stent procedure as an engaged patient. I talked with him frequently throughout the experience, supporting his instinct to ask questions and participate in decision-making. Looking back, we see our attempts at gathering information and educating ourselves as a mixed bag. This adventure […]

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Susan Carr Susan Carr is a medical editor and writer specializing in patient safety and engagement. In addition to curating the EngagingPatients blog, she produces publications for the Betsy Lehman Center in Boston and the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine. Susan lives and works in Lunenburg, Massachusetts.

Susan Carr has 185 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org

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Patient Engagement

Decision-making on the Learning Curve

Being an engaged patient is a natural extension of my work in healthcare safety and quality, so when a friend was told he might need a coronary stent, I responded by searching for information and asking questions. I was glad to be able to help and to see my friend engaged in his care. In […]

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Susan Carr Susan Carr is a medical editor and writer specializing in patient safety and engagement. In addition to curating the EngagingPatients blog, she produces publications for the Betsy Lehman Center in Boston and the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine. Susan lives and works in Lunenburg, Massachusetts.

Susan Carr has 185 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org

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Patient Rights

Patients’ Lack of Political Power Torpedoes Power Sharing

There may be no better demonstration of the political weakness of the patient rights movement than Medicare’s recent cancellation of a major initiative on shared decision-making. Let’s briefly examine the evidence: 1) The program was cancelled; 2) Although six clinical conditions were to be part of the effort, its demise attracted only brief mention in […]

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Michael L. Millenson, President, Health Quality Advisors LLC Michael L. Millenson, president of Health Quality Advisors LLC, Highland Park, IL, is a nationally recognized expert on quality of care improvement, patient-centered care and web-based health. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book, Demanding Medical Excellence: Doctors and Accountability in the Information Age, and he is adjunct associate professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. National Public Radio called him “in the vanguard of the movement” to measure and improve American medicine. Prior to starting his own firm, Millenson was a principal in the health-care practice of a major human resources consulting firm. Before that, he was a healthcare reporter for the Chicago Tribune, where he was nominated three times for a Pulitzer Prize. He serves on the boards of the American Journal of Medical Quality and Project Patient Care.

Michael L. Millenson, President, Health Quality Advisors has 20 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org

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Choosing Wisely

Empowering Patients: Help Them Ask the Hard Questions

Editor’s Note: This week, we revisit and update a post from one year ago. In the original post, Randi Oster relates a personal story to illustrate the value of the Choosing Wisely campaign. Sponsored by Consumer Reports and the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, Choosing Wisely helps patients navigate medical decision-making by providing information […]

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Randi Redmond Oster Randi Redmond Oster is author of Questioning Protocol, which helps patients navigate the healthcare system and medical professionals understand the patient perspective. She is a nationally acclaimed speaker on healthcare reform, shared decision-making and patient engagement. Randi spent approximately 20 years working at GE on complex aerospace systems and building profitable financial services businesses. She received a Black Belt in Six Sigma Quality and numerous leadership awards. The skills she gained at GE empowered her to effectively navigate the healthcare system and find opportunities for process improvements as she advocated in hospitals on behalf of her chronically ill son. Randi is president of Help Me Health, a business focused on the transformation of how healthcare thinks about and delivers patient experiences to achieve better outcomes and a better bottom line.

Randi Redmond Oster has 4 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org

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Health Literacy

Understanding the Power of Health Literacy

Providing patients and family caregivers with understandable health information might seem like common sense, but it’s not as common as you might think – and its impact on care has big implications when it comes to health outcomes and the cost of healthcare. The Institute of Medicine defines health literacy as “the degree to which […]

Shared Decision Making

Engaging in Uncertainty

Patient engagement is often described in the context of shared decision-making or health literacy. Engaged patients educate themselves, ask questions and make informed choices: Which approach to cancer treatment is right for me? How can I change my diet to improve my health? What do I need to know to ensure I’m managing my parents’ […]

Health Literacy

Health Literacy: Making the Case to Organizations

Picture this: you are speaking to a group of leaders in a health system. They aren’t on their smartphones answering emails; they are engaged, interested and listening to every word you say. How great would that feel? I know; I know. This is not reality. So the question becomes, how do you engage these decision-makers […]

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Christopher Trudeau, JD Christopher Trudeau, JD, has a dual appointment as an associate professor in the UAMS Center for Health Literacy and as an associate professor of law at the UALR Bowen School of Law. Chris is an expert on health literacy, plain language and the law. His views are his own; they do not necessarily represent those of his employers. He may be reached at ctrudeau@uams.edu.

Christopher Trudeau, JD has 7 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org

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Patient-Centered Communication

Improving Patient Engagement Through Clear Health Communication

What do health literacy, health communication, shared decision-making, patient education and patient engagement have in common? They all focus on the individual patient being an essential part of the healthcare system, which is a step in the right direction, given the paternalistic past of healthcare. Too often, these fields are seen as distinct efforts, each […]

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Christopher Trudeau, JD Christopher Trudeau, JD, has a dual appointment as an associate professor in the UAMS Center for Health Literacy and as an associate professor of law at the UALR Bowen School of Law. Chris is an expert on health literacy, plain language and the law. His views are his own; they do not necessarily represent those of his employers. He may be reached at ctrudeau@uams.edu.

Christopher Trudeau, JD has 7 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org

Check out my: Twitter