This article may not look as if it is reporting on a revolutionary development—-but it may well be.

The state of Washington is exploring whether involving patients in decision-making—-the highest level possible of informed consent—-will make everything better.

• Patient outcomes.

• Patient satisfaction.

• Costs.

Right now, the amount of information patients get ranges from none to extensive.

The study seeks to measure this. If the best-quality information about a specific diagnosis is provided and consistently to study participants, will they make better decisions with their doctors?

The study selected diagnoses for which there are real choices among treatment options. Those diagnoses are listed below.

This is a positive development in that a lot of people talk the talk about shared decision-making with patients but this study seeks to walk the walk as well.
JAMA

“Health officials in Washington State are probing whether more actively involving patients in decision making will help improve patient care and satisfaction and perhaps lower costs associated with certain elective medical procedures.

“In 2007, the state passed legislation that officially recognized shared decision making as a high standard of informed consent. The law also required a demonstration project, which is now under way, to gauge the effects of this model of informed consent for treating patients with “preference-sensitive conditions” that have multiple options for care. The project includes such conditions as osteoarthritis of the knee or hip, low back pain, abnormal uterine bleeding, fibroids, benign prostatic hyperplasia, chronic stable angina, early-stage breast cancer, and breast reconstruction after mastectomy.”

Source: JAMA. 2009;301(24):2539-2541.