Confusion in and about shared decision making in hospital outpatient encounters

To explore how physician efforts to involve patients in medical decisions align with established core elements of shared decision making (SDM).

Detailed video analysis of two hospital outpatient encounters, selected because the physicians exhibited much effort to involve the patients in decision making, and because the final decisions were not what the physicians had initially recommended. The analysis was supplied by physician, patient, and observer-rated data from a total of 497 encounters collected during the same original study. The observer-rated data confirmed that these physicians demonstrated above average patient-centred skills in this material.

Behaviours of these two not trained physicians demonstrated confusion about how to perform SDM. Information provided to the patients was imprecise and ambiguous. Insufficient patient involvement did not prompt the physicians to change strategy. Physician and patient reports indicated awareness of suboptimal communication.

Inadequate SDM in hospital encounters may introduce confusion. Quantitative evaluations by patients and observers may reflect much effort rather than process quality.

SDM may be discredited because the medical community has not acquired the necessary skills to perform it, even if it is ethically and legally mandated. Training and supervision should follow regulations and guidelines.