In 2021, Beth Israel Lahey Health and BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts began to focus on the idea that doctors and patients should have equal weight in deciding on health-related procedures. It’s a concept known as shared decision making. Research shows that shared decision making supports the notion that if a patient is engaged in their care, they’re more likely to follow through on preventative cancer screenings and improve their own self management of their care.
“We saw this as a win-win for both the patient and the providers, to have that two way conversation on what the patient prefers for their screening, should they decide to get screened. And colorectal cancer screening made sense to us because there are different options to get screened,” said Tim Carey, Clinical Operations Project Manager (Performance Network) at Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH).
Carey along with Laura Carr, Director, Provider Performance at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) recently spoke with Nina Zelcer, Senior Manager at Arcadia to explain how shared decision making is a win-win-win for providers, payers, and patients during the webinar, Payer-Provider Collaboration.
Patient engagement through shared decision making
The idea behind shared decision making is motivating the patient to take action and complete their screenings or participate in their care.
“Overall shared decision making is a communication approach to better educate patients so they can make informed decisions in collaboration with their provider,” Carr said.