Shared Decision Making

Abstract

Shared decision making (SDM) is a process by which physicians and patients jointly participate in choosing to pursue one of several alternatives in a clinical decision. It is most relevant for decisions that involve significant potential harms and benefits with tradeoffs and uncertainty. This paper provides a state-of-the-art review about SDM covering its concept, value, implementation and application in emergency management and communication. SDM is valuable in the process of making decisions which patients may benefit most from, thus resulting in satisfying patient-centered outcomes. Although SDM can be challenging to incorporate into clinical practice, it is likely to become a useful tool of communication in future.