Patients Must Know the Pros and Cons of Screening, Make Shared Decisions with Their Doctors
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Patients today are inundated with debate and questions about preventive care. What screenings or tests are needed? How often? Are some unnecessary? What should be questioned? To better educate patients about the many important decisions surrounding preventive care, and in recognition of the 5th annual National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD), Health Dialog has made three of its testing/screening patient decision aids available to the public.
“Heart Tests: Learning About Your Choices”, “Colon Cancer Screening”, and “Is a PSA Test Right for You?” can all be accessed free of charge for a limited time by visiting www.healthdialog.com/nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.
Observed on April 16, NHDD is a collaborative effort of national, state, and community organizations committed to ensuring that all adults with decision making capacity in the United States have the information and opportunity to communicate and document their healthcare decisions. While NHDD focuses specifically on decisions for advanced care planning, Health Dialog takes the opportunity each year to highlight different healthcare areas where patient education and Shared Decision Making support are critical.
“Many people think healthcare decisions are made only after a diagnosis,” said Peter Goldbach, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Health Dialog. “But the reality is that many tests come with their own set of tradeoffs that require patients to make a choice. The three decision aids we’ve made available cover common testing procedures and their associated benefits and risks. We believe the best approach to effective preventive care is education and collaboration. Informed patients must engage in conversations with their physicians so they can make the decision that is best for them.”
Health Dialog has created a broad library of award-winning medical decision aids on more than 30 different topics, including chronic diseases, surgical decisions, and testing. These decision aids, as well as Health Dialog’s health coaching services, are currently available to 16 million individuals. To read Health Dialog’s latest blog post on National Healthcare Decision Day, please visit www.hdcarecompass.com/Blog/April-2012/To-Test-or-Not-to-Test-
About Health Dialog Services Corporation:
Health Dialog Services Corporation is a leading provider of healthcare analytics and decision support. The firm is a private, wholly-owned subsidiary of Bupa, a global provider of healthcare services. Health Dialog helps healthcare payors improve healthcare quality while reducing overall costs. Company offerings include health coaching for medical decisions, chronic conditions, and wellness; population analytic solutions; and consulting services. Health Dialog helps individuals participate in their own healthcare decisions, develop more effective relationships with their physicians, and live healthier, happier lives. For more information please visit www.healthdialog.com.
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Kiran Ganda, 617-406-5239
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