BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Health Dialog, a leading provider of integrated population health management solutions for health plans, risk-bearing providers and self-insured employers, applauds the National Quality Forum (NQF) and its National Quality Partners™ Shared Decision Making Action Team for creating the, NQP Playbook™: Shared Decision Making in Healthcare, which offers actionable solutions for implementing shared decision making (SDM) in clinical practice. The Playbook follows the NQF’s 2017 Call to Action to make SDM a standard of person-centered care. On March 19, the NQF will host an SDM workshop that includes clinicians from the some of the nation’s most mature, successful SDM programs and Health Dialog’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Peter Goldbach.

SDM is a process by which providers/clinicians and patients work together to make informed treatment decisions. It’s often supported by high-quality decision aids, which provide patients with the best clinical evidence about healthcare options as well as risks and benefits while encouraging them to share their personal preferences and values with their physician. Nearly two decades of data show patients who use decision aids often choose less invasive care, achieve better health outcomes, reduce healthcare costs and are happier with both their care and their provider.

The Playbook reflects the work of the National Quality Partners™ Shared Decision Making Action Team, whose members represent government, nursing associations, professional medical societies, physicians groups, patient advocacy and leading healthcare organizations. The Playbook provides actionable solutions to overcome common barriers to shared decision making in clinical practice. It follows the knowledge gained from twenty years of real-world experience demonstrating SDM’s value in facilitating patient-centered, cost-effective healthcare as well as the compendium of research, policy decisions, legislation and endorsement from national organizations, including:

• Dozens of studies showing the value of SDM in delivering patient-centered care and better patient experience across a variety of conditions and care settings.
• Endorsement from a wide range of leading healthcare organizations including:
  • American Hospital Association
  • American Medical Association
  • Institute of Medicine (now National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine)
  • National Committee for Quality Assurance
  • U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
• Legislation supporting the use of SDM in:
  • The State of Washington
  • The Affordable Care Act

“We commend the NQF and its Shared Decision Making Action Team for creating practical solutions for implementing SDM supported by high-quality decision aids in clinical practice,” said Peter Goldbach, M.D., chief medical officer for Health Dialog, an SDM pioneer. “The NQF has assembled the highest quality evidence and best practices supporting effective SDM. They’ve called for SDM to be a standard of care and, with the Playbook, are helping care teams address the issues around implementation. We applaud the team’s efforts to expand the value of SDM to a larger group of clinicians and even larger group of patients who can now benefit from the high-quality, person-centered care SDM allows.”

Clinicians, care teams, patients and health care systems can access the Playbook at the NQF’s web site (www.qualityforum.org). The NQF workshop, “Using Shared Decision Making to Drive Population Health Strategy,” will be held on March 19, 2018 in Philadelphia. The workshop precedes the Thomas Jefferson University’s 18^th Population Health Colloquium. Clinicians, care teams and payers can register for the NQF workshop at https://populationhealthcolloquium.com/registration-onsite/

About Health Dialog:

Health Dialog is a leading provider of population health management solutions. The company works with the nation’s largest third-party payers, employers and providers to improve the health and wellness of their members, employees and patients while reducing costs and improving performance in key quality measures, such as NCQA’s HEDIS and CMS’ Stars ratings. Health Dialog’s unique capabilities include analytics, a patient portal, a multi-channel coaching platform, shared decision-making tools and a 24/7 nurse line. For more information, visit www.healthdialog.com. Health Dialog is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD).

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