Abstract

Shared decision-making is a key component of patient-centered care and has been shown to improve patient satisfaction and quality of life. Herein, we study the impact of a standardized patient education class for prospective breast reconstruction patients on clinic efficiency, access to care, and perception on shared decision-making.The number of new patient consultations per clinic, as well as average duration of the first individual clinic encounter, was compared before and after the introduction of a standardized education class given by the senior author to all new breast reconstruction patients. To evaluate patients' perception of shared decision-making, the 9-item Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q9) and the Satisfaction with Information scale of the BREAST-Q Reconstruction Module were electronically distributed among the patients and compared between the two groups.Introduction of the patient education class was associated with a significant reduction in the duration of new patient encounters compared to historic controls (31.8?min vs. 53.5?min, p < 0.01) along with permitting a 43% increase in new patient visits. No differences in self-perceived patient education and autonomy were seen between class participants and historic controls in the SDM-Q9 scores (p?=?0.58) and BREAST-Q scores (p?=?0.14).The introducing a standardized patient education class translated into a significant reduction in the duration of individual new patient encounters, thereby increasing patient access to care, while maintaining high-quality standards of self-perceived patient education and shared decision-making.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.bjps.2020.02.032

View details for PubMedID 32241738