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The key to happier, healthier members and lower costs is Shared Decision Making.
At Health Dialog, we coach the whole person, realizing that each one of your members possesses a unique set of strengths and faces individual barriers to living a healthier life. We don’t just close gaps in care by reminding members of missed tests or prescriptions because our analytics tell us this alone does not deliver cost savings or long-term improvement of health outcomes. We truly focus on helping members make informed decisions alongside their health care providers.

Did you know?
  • Individuals make a surprisingly large number of medical decisions each year: 82% of adults over the age of 40 have made a decision about surgery, screening, or new medication in the past two years.(1)
  • 1/3 of medical decisions are about surgeries, tests, treatments, and procedures that have one or more treatment options. These options often have very different trade-offs in terms of likely benefits and risks; these medical decisions are not always easy or straightforward.(2)
  • When asked about 9 major medical decisions, patients on average knew less than half of the critical information required to make informed decisions for 8 of the 9 decisions.(3)
  • 70% of patients feel doing what the doctor thinks is best is a top priority across 6 different medical conditions. When asked the same question, only 20% of healthcare providers feel it is a top priority.(4)
Footnotes:
(1) Couper MP. Medical decisions in America: the patient perspective. Presented at a research forum of the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation. Washington, DC. February 4, 2009.
(2) Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Dartmouth Medical School. Dartmouth Atlas Project Topic Brief: Preference-Sensitive Care 6. 2005. URL: http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/topics/preference_sensitive.pdf. Accessed May 22, 2009.
(3) 

Zikmund-Fisher., et al. The DECISIONS Study. Medical Decision Making. Sep-Oct 2010.

(4) 

Lee C, Levin C, and Sepucha K. Patient and Provider Perspectives on Breast Cancer Treatments. 30th Annual Society for Medical Decision Making Conference, Philadelphia PA October 2008.


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