Project Summary
Background: The Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM) is a professional research organization promoting scientific and methodological rigor in healthcare decision science and behavioral science, and their application to clinical care and health policy. SMDM Annual Meetings address important issues in medical decision making and health outcome research. A PCORI award will allow SMDM to advance an agenda, consistent with the PCORI mission, to improve the quality and relevance of evidence available to help patients, caregivers, clinicians, employers, insurers, and policy makers make informed health decisions across diverse populations.
Objectives: 1) Advance comparative effectiveness research methods in medical decision making relevant to diverse populations including women, children, minority populations, and older adults; 2) expand the project team’s forum for researching methodologic advancements to more specifically address areas pertinent to PCORI; and 3) facilitate dissemination of research findings.
Activities: The 39th SMDM Annual Meeting will occur on October 22-25, 2017 in Pittsburgh. The meeting format includes a combination of pre-courses, scientific abstract and poster sessions, symposia, speakers, and opportunities for networking and collaboration. The meeting provides a forum for presentation of novel research based on decision and behavior theory and on analytical models applied to health-related decisions in ambulatory care, hospital medicine, and public health domains. The core meeting takes place over two and a half days. A pre-meeting day of short courses draws participation from more than 50 percent of meeting attendees. A PCORI conference award will expand the impact of the meeting, particularly in the comparative effectiveness research and patient/public engagement arenas. The project team will use PCORI support for two pre-conference short courses, a symposium, two oral abstract sessions, and a patient/stakeholder evaluation of meeting proceedings, all centered on PCORI priority areas.
Outcomes and Outputs: Meeting evaluations from regular attendees and from a patient/stakeholder group, having them identify opportunities for patient engagement and for research on patient engagement at future SMDM Annual Meetings and in future SMDM activities beyond the meeting.
Patient and Stakeholder Engagement Plan: A major component of SMDM’s patient and stakeholder engagement plan is to continue and extend the group’s leadership in the investigation of patient engagement: how to do it well and what the effects of patient engagement are on decisions and health outcomes. Another component will be the dissemination of best practices for patient engagement and investigations of patient engagement outcomes. In addition, a patient/stakeholder group will attend a portion of the 2017 SMDM Annual Meeting, going to sessions (alongside usual SMDM meeting attendees) that are geared toward research on patient engagement, shared decision making, and patient data use in medical decision making. At these events (a symposium and abstract sessions), followed by a debriefing session, patient/stakeholders will evaluate and critique the proceedings. The project team will seek their input on how to make the meeting more useful and relevant to patients, and how to incorporate the views of patients into planning for future meetings and future day-to-day SMDM activities.