Sunday, December 7, 2008

Getting to the Truth in Patient Medical & Pharmacy Encounters ---On Shared Decision Making

The survey explores the concept of Shared Decision Making----where the patient is enabled and empowered to participate as an equal in his or her own care. It’s a concept that is long overdue and maybe far off as it completely shifts the power dynamic and accountability back to the consumer / patient / person. The clinician is also empowered in that dynamic, as frank dialogue becomes the basis for communications. It's not about the money exchange in health care-----it's about the power for decision making and helping people have choices-----and this is something that may be as unique to us as our retinal patterns.

It is that shift that actually enables the free-market of health care for the person, the clinician, and the system because we cease paying for things that have low value or are not desired by the patient which might otherwise result in waste----redundant tests, unnecessary drugs or hospitalizations.

I am grateful for the opportunity to enlist a number of you in measuring your impressions in this survey with the hope that we can spark a national-----or international----dialogue on how to really improve care and take care of each other. Please copy and paste the following link into your browser page or double click on it to review the results.
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=963974&da=y