Upper Nyack, New York-based CreakyJoints, part of the nonprofit Global Healthy Living Foundation, along with New York City-based Pfizer, Inc., have announced that they have chosen Mayo Clinic and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to each receive a $500K research award funded by Pfizer Independent Grants for Learning & Change (IGLC).
Both facilities will undertake studies focusing on improving shared decision making among adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their health care providers.
John M. Davis, III, M.D., M.S., associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is the principal investigator for the first project titled, “The Impact of Arthritis Power on Rheumatoid Arthritis Shared Decision Making.”
According to CreakyJoints, “The objective is to improve shared decision making about treatment options and thereby enhance disease outcomes and health-related quality of life for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by testing the value of engaging patients in use of ArthritisPower mobile application for collection of patient-reported symptoms data on a weekly basis during the period between clinic appointments.”
“Information about symptoms will then be viewed on a tablet by the patients and their rheumatology health care providers at the point of care for shared decision making about RA treatment changes.”
As for what doctors think of shared decision making in RA, Dr. Davis told OTW, “I think doctors, specifically rheumatologists, see a number of barriers to shared decision making (SDM).”
“It takes time, and time is extremely limited relative to all of the tasks that have to be achieved during a typical clinical encounter.”
“The evidence base about the various options available is often inadequate. Often, available clinical evidence does not exist to give patients and their clinicians the information they need to make a good decision based upon a patient’s clinical situation, values, and preferences.”
“Clinicians do not always have the tools they need to engage patients in SDM.”
“At a basic level, patients and physicians may have different ideas about the goals of treatment. They also may not have a shared understanding of the factors contributing to their illness.”
“Our study is seeking to specifically improve the dialogue between patients and their rheumatologists on the symptoms and their impact during the time from the last clinical visit. The purpose is to center the clinical encounter around the issues that matter most to patients. It is our hope that improvement in the patient provider interaction and SDM will lead to clinical decisions that improve health outcomes for patients.”
From UAB, the principal investigator is Huifeng Yun, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology. Her study is titled, “Integration of Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) to Improve Shared Decision Making in Rheumatoid Arthritis.”
