BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Health Dialog, a leading provider of integrated population health management solutions for health plans, risk-bearing providers and self-insured employers, announced today it will host a complimentary webinar, “Five tactical steps for successful implementation of shared decision making,” on September 20 at 1:00 PM ET. Peter Goldbach, M.D., the company’s chief medical officer and a national authority on SDM, will provide strategic advice to help organizations execute effective shared decision making programs that reduce costs, improve outcomes and increase patient satisfaction. To register for the webinar, please visit http://info.healthdialog.com/webinar-5-steps-to-implement-shared-decision-making.

Health Dialog’s SDM programs use proprietary analytics to identify individuals in a member, employee or patient population who are facing decisions about treatment for their preference-sensitive conditions. Health Dialog’s registered nurse health coaches provide personalized, on-demand guidance, helping patients use decision aids to choose the most appropriate treatment option. These programs save money through reductions in unnecessary surgeries and better outcomes for those who elect surgery. Research shows patients who use decision aids are happier with both their care and their provider.

“The most successful shared decision making programs have three characteristics: a keen understanding of individual members’ health needs achieved through population analytics, excellent support for on-boarding and the use of impactful, high-quality SDM tools and coaching,” said Dr. Peter Goldbach, chief medical officer for Health Dialog. “We’ll be sharing key learnings from Health Dialog’s 20 years of SDM experience, as well as best practices from some of the nation’s oldest and most successful SDM programs, which healthcare leaders are rapidly recognizing as an effective and member-beloved path to patient-centric care.”

The webinar will draw on key points from Goldbach’s recent white paper, “Implementing Shared Decision Making at the Point of Care.” Dr. Goldbach will outline five tactical steps providers and health plans must take to successfully implement shared decision making. Attendees will learn how to:

• Build buy-in throughout their organization;
• Integrate SDM delivery into existing workflows;
• Increase provider and patient usage and adoption;
• Ensure effective utilization of tools by patients; and
• Set realistic program goals and drive results.

Many of the nation’s leading medical organizations endorse the use of SDM, including the Institute of Medicine, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the American Medical Association. However, not all decision aids are of equal quality. Health Dialog’s decision aids are reviewed regularly for clinical accuracy by Harvard Medical School doctors. They have received more than 100 industry awards for content, ease-of-use and design. Health Dialog’s decision aids have also scored higher than programs offered by other leading commercial vendors on the internationally approved set of criteria to determine patient decision aid quality set forth by the International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) Collaboration. Studies also show that the combination of Health Dialog’s analytics, decision aids and related coaching can significantly reduce costs.

For a recent white paper on Health Dialog’s SDM services, please visit http://info.healthdialog.com/webinar-5-steps-to-implement-shared-decision-making.

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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