Well-informed orthopedic patients who play a significant role in determining the best treatment options tend to achieve better outcomes and satisfaction rates, according to a study presented at the AAOS Annual Meeting.
Here's what you need to know:
1. Shared decision making requires physicians and patients work together to make decisions and select tests, treatments and care plans is vital to patient-centered healthcare.
2. Over 550 patients were surveyed; their conditions ranged from hip or knee osteoporosis, a slipped or ruptured disc in the lower back and lumbar spinal stenosis.
3. One-third of the patients had made informed patient-centered decisions and reported higher quality of life outcomes down the road.
4. Of these patients, 76.7 percent reported extreme satisfaction with their pain management plan.
5. Assistant Chief of Surgery at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital's Orthopaedic Spine Center and study author Thomas Cha, MD, said, "Shared decision making did not just result in better patient experience ratings, but also improved patient outcomes."
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