Shared Decision Making in
Practice at MGH 
MGH Health Decision Sciences Center
February, 2014
Issue 8
In This Issue
Top 10 Video Programs
Referrals with DA
Chronic Pain
Pick-Up a DA
Practice Data
Upcoming Events
Decision Aids

Online Opportunity!

 

The Shared Decision Making team has a new opportunity that would allow patients to view a decision aid on the web. Let us know if you are interested in learning more about how to get your patients this new access.

Top 10

Video Programs:

prescribed last quarter 

 (October - December) 

  1. Is a PSA Test Right for You?
  2. Peace of Mind: Personal Stories about Advance Directives
  3. Treatment Choices for Knee Osteoarthritis
  4. Colon Cancer Screening: Deciding What's Right for You
  5. Treatment Choices for Hip Osteoarthritis
  6. Sleeping Better: Help for Long-Term Insomnia 
  7. Treatment Choices for Torn Meniscus After Age 40
  8. Living with Diabetes: Making Lifestyle Changes to Last a Lifetime
  9. Help for Anxiety: Treatments that Work
  10. Treatment Choices for Uterine Fibroids

Quick Links

 

 
 
 

Informed Medical Decisions Foundation


SDM Toolkit
For a useful Shared Decision-Making "toolkit" including helpful hints and FAQs,visit the MGH Excellence Every Day website.

Welcome to the Shared Decision Making (SDM) program newsletter. In this newsletter you will find: updates to the available video programs, new shared decision making projects, practice-specific prescription data, upcoming events, and useful resources and links.

 

The Shared Decision Making Program is sponsored by the MGH Health Decision Sciences Center, The John D. Stoeckle Center and the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization. We strive to provide high-quality health information to promote active and shared decision-making in clinical care at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

 

We appreciate your feedback as we continue to expand and improve upon our program work.

 

Sincerely,

Karen Sepucha, Leigh Simmons, Lauren Leavitt,

Sandra Feibelmann, Sarah Hewitt, Mahima Mangla,

Sharon Floramo, Emma Jeffries

 
 

 
MGH Gynecology Referrals with
 Decision Aids 
  

The MGH Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology collaborated with the Health Decision Sciences team in 2013 to enhance the shared decision-making program distribution process. Connie O'Halloran, triage nurse, manages the department's patient referrals. When she shedules appointments for one of the target conditions (menopause, fibroids, and abnormal uterine bleeding), Connie tells the patient that there is educational material available and asks if they are interested in receiving the DVD and booklet in the mail. She briefly summarizes the educational information and lets the patient know to expect it in the mail within the week.

 

More than 200 decision aids have been ordered for patients in advance of their visit with a physician in the Mass General Gynecology Program. The patients appreciate being sent the educational information to their home and the physicians have been pleased that patients are prepared to have more informed discussions during the visit.

 Update: Living Better with

Chronic Pain

 

 The Shared Decision Making Program is pleased to announce an updated version of the patient decision aid "Living Better with Chronic Pain" developed by the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation and edited by Michael Bierer, MD, MPH, of Massachusetts General Hospital.  

 

Clinicians may wish to prescribe this decision aid for their patients who are living with chronic pain, as part of a comprehensive pain management program. Use of this program may complement the efforts in primary care to improve assessment of pain regimens and management of opioid pain regimens. The program can be prescribed through the electronic medical record: LMR

 

This program helps people with chronic pain understand that although their pain may have no medical cure, there are effective techniques they can use to live better despite their pain and to diminish its severity. Through portraits of four people who have struggled with pain for years, viewers see how each has learned to use different strategies to cope and to better manage life with pain. These people describe their journeys from depression and despair to the knowledge that they hold the power to make a big difference in the quality of their lives.

 

The companion booklet contains supplemental information on the following:

  • The various types of healthcare providers and the kind of support they provide that can help with managing chronic pain
  • What medications can and can't do
  • Insight about sleep and chronic pain
  • Tips for working with doctors  
  • Additional skills that can help people live better with chronic pain
Decision Aid Pick-Up at
The Blum Center
  

The Health Decision Sciences Center has a longstanding relationship with The Maxwell & Eleanor Blum Patient and Family Learning Center at Mass General. The Blum Center stocks the decision aids as a part of their library collection. Patients with visits near or at the main hospital may walk to the Blum Center to pickup their decision aid immediately. Clinicians can choose the "pick-up" option when ordering a decision aid in the patient's record. Click here to see a screenshot of the order page with the pick-up option.

 

Each decision aid order in the EMR automatically prints a one-page summary of the decision aid. This sheet confirms the order. It may be handed to the patient and used at the time of pick-up to ensure they receive the proper program.

 

The Maxwell & Eleanor Blum Patient and Family Learning Center is located at White 110 (behind the stairs leading to the cafeteria). Their new hours of operation are 9:00am - 4:30pm.  Click here  to see a map to the Blum Center at MGH.

 

 

Video Prescription Data
 
Take a look!  Here is a quick view of the shared decision-making video prescription data from the last quarter (October - December, 2013). We've provided an update displaying how each care team compares to other practices across MGH.
Upcoming Events 

 

The Blum Center at MGH hosts monthly patient education sessions including the presentation of a shared decision making video followed by a facilitated discussion. The one-hour session, 12:00-1:00pm,  is open to MGH patients and staff.
 
March 13, 2014: Colon Cancer Screening: Deciding What's Right for you with Dr. Daniel Chung.
 
April 29, 2014: Managing Menopause: Choosing Treatments for Menopause Symptoms with Dr. Jan Leslie Shifren.
 
May 14, 2014: Coping with Symptoms of Depression with Drs. John Matthews & Paola Pedrelli.
 
Contact us to provide suggestions for future session topics.

* 40 Patient Decision Aids are Available to Order *

   

For a full listing of the 40 available Shared Decision Making decision aids, click here!

All of the SDM one-page information sheets can now be quickly accessed through PCOI.
  
If you think your patients would be interested in viewing a video program online, contact our team. We can work with you to provide this access to patients.