Patient Involvement

Patient involvement refers to the degree to which patients play an active role in the medical decision-making process.

Increasing patient involvement in medical decisions is a worthy goal. Greater patient involvement requires two key elements: the health care provider must give the patient sufficient information about all viable options so that he or she is truly informed and the provider must create an environment in which the patient is welcomed into the decision-making process. “Good” medical decisions require patient involvement, because they must reflect patient preferences and values. To encourage greater patient involvement in decision-making, health care providers should provide relevant information, allow patients sufficient time to digest and respond to the information, listen to questions and concerns, and solicit patient opinion.

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The Foundation for Informed Medical Decision-making offers these definitions to provide context for the topic areas
and a deeper understanding of the referenced articles within each topic.