Patient-Centered Care in Acute Cardiovascular Disease

The need for increased focus on patient-centered care delivery approaches has been highlighted by numerous national organizations and health policy established over the past few years. Shared decision-making (SDM) is an approach to engaging patients in decision-making that involves the exchange of information between two or more parties, one of which must be the patient, and results in reaching a final decision by consensus. Limited studies have shown feasibility and efficacy of implementing SDM strategies within the emergency department to facilitate translation of scientific evidence to practice while improving patient satisfaction and reducing resource utilization without increasing harm. The assessment and treatment of patients with potential acute cardiovascular conditions in the emergency setting offers a number of opportunities for further testing and implementation of SDM in the emergency care setting. Future establishment of guidelines and quality of care measures focused on assessing adequacy of patient engagement may help drive this agenda.