Bright Pink Blog Shared Decision-Making: Getting the Most Out of Your Care

It's the beginning of an all-star team. You, living in your body 24/7, are the expert on your own health. A medical provider brings expertise from many years of school and caring for patients. Together, you can tackle caring for your health in the best way, but to do it you'll need to practice shared decision-making. Bright Pink Medical Advisory Committee member and OB-GYN Dr. Sara Roper gave us her perspective on shared decision-making, why it's important, and how to prepare for conversations with your provider. What is shared decision-making? Shared decision-making is the process of physician, patient, and patient family working together to create a healthcare plan. These conversations can be about preventive healthcare and routine screening recommendations or regarding medical problems and the management of those problems. It should be an on-going part of your healthcare throughout your life. What are some examples of medical decisions that women often make with you? I strive to make shared decision-making part of every visit, so the most common decisions we make are also the most common reasons women are meeting with me. In gynecology, this often means birth control methods and the management of periods and period related problems. In [...]