Gov. Christine Gregoire signed legislation last week that may make Washington the first state to endorse the benefit of physicians and patients using shared decision making when confronted with important treatment choices.
In shared decision making, the physician shares with the patient all relevant risk and benefit information on all treatment alternatives, and the patient shares with the physician all relevant personal information that might make one treatment or side effect more or less tolerable than others. Studies have indicated that when decision aids (such as brochures, DVDs, or online tools) are available to patients and they have the opportunity to participate in medical decision making with their physician, the patient-physician dialogue, as well as patient well-being, improves.
The bill enables the state Health Care Authority to implement a shared decision-making demonstration project in partnership with multispecialty group practices. The demonstration project will incorporate decision aids into clinical practice to assess their effect on healthcare quality, cost, and patient satisfaction, according to a statement from Gov. Gregoire's office.
Calling the legislation “groundbreaking,” John E. Wennberg, MD, co-founder and senior policy advisor, Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, said in a statement that it “empowers patients with relevant medical information to enable them to make treatment decisions based on their individual preferences.” Read the governor’s press release.
