Shared decision-making, a collaborative process by which the clinician care team works together and with patients to reach informed, evidence-based, and value-congruent medical decisions, can improve patient outcomes, as well as foster innovation within the health care team. Given the opportunity to balance expert medical knowledge with patient values and preferences, medical teams – with the anesthesiologist's unique perspective at the forefront – can learn, grow, and provide personalized care that increases patient understanding, adherence, and long-term success.
For facilities that have implemented it in their medical teams, shared decision-making has proven to not only inspire greater patient care, but to cultivate continued innovation and learning among the team. “Shared decision-making contributes to a culture of learning within the hospital,” said Ravish Kapoor, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Division of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center. “Science and medicine are constantly evolving,...
