Stay Current! Read the SMDM Newsletter:  Link to current and past issues

SMDM in the News! Forbes.com and The Health Care Blog (THCB) run stories on the Shared Decision Making session at SMDM's 2011 Annual Meeting, From a Nudge to a Shove:  How Big a Role for Shared Decision Making. Stories can be accessed here Forbes and THCB.

The July/August 2011 issue of Medical Decision Making, a special issue devoted to papers on simulation modeling by an international group of modelers, is now available online. The contents of this MDM issue include thirteen papers and three editorials and cover issues including ways of modeling preclinical disease, calibration methods for assigning values to model parameters for which no direct evidence is available, and guidance for modeling the effects of scientific uncertainty on estimates of health and costs, a rapidly growing use of simulation models.

“Simulation models have become a fundamental tool for decision makers in health,” said Deputy Editor Louise Russell, who brought this collection of papers together and edited the issue. “Medical advisory groups around the world rely on them to help develop guidelines for immunizations, screening, and other types of care.  Payers in many countries use them to evaluate new drugs and services for reimbursement.”

Two papers in this issue are freely available: “Clarifying Differences in Natural History between Models of Screening: The Case of Colorectal Cancer” by Marjolein van Ballegooijen et al. proposes a new measure for comparing models of screening; “Accounting for Methodological, Structural, and Parameter Uncertainty in Decision-Analytic Models: A Practical Guide” by Joke Bilcke et al. leads readers step by step through the process of representing scientific uncertainty in a model.

To access a full list of articles and editorials in this issue please see the Table of Contents on the MDM website.

June 20, 2011 MDM online publishes findings from the third of three studies conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirming that the way information is conveyed and displayed in printed drug advertising affects consumer understanding of prescription medications. MDM article available here. FDA press release available here.

Sept/Oct 2009 issue of MDM Provides Groundwork for AHRQ Methods Guide to Compare Medical Tests:  White paper series is available here

The SMDM Global Health Working Group and the SMDM Board of Trustees have started a dialogue about creating a global community of researchers within SMDM that includes researchers from middle- and low-income countries. As a result, SMDM began offering scholarships to meeting attendees from middle-income countries in 2010 and expanded the program to include attendees from low-income countries in 2011.

Shared Decision Making:  The Sept/Oct 2007 issue of MDM publishes articles on the future of shared decision making.

September 30, 2007, SMDM co-founder and first president, Eugene Saenger, MD, passes away. University of Cincinnati announcement. Photo of Dr. Saenger