Decision Aids

Decision Aids can help make shared decision making conversations easier. They are designed to be used during the visit and provide a template for clinicians and patients to discuss options, key benefits and harms, and decide together on a plan for management.

Orthopedic Decision Aids

  • Knee Osteoarthritis:  Is it time to think about surgery?
  • Hip osteoarthritis: Is it time to think about surgery?
  • Lumbar Herniated Disc: Which Treatment Is Right for You?
  • Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: Which Treatment Is Right for You?

Using Decision Worksheets

The worksheets are not intended to be used as a stand-alone decision aid, or to be a comprehensive set of information. Rather, they are best used during the consultation to guide discussion and elicit patient preferences, values, and concerns.

For more detailed instructions, please view our Guide to Using Decision Worksheets.

We also have videos illustrating visits with and without a worksheet. The first video shows a “typical visit” about starting a statin for high cholesterol. The other is a visit on the same topic using a Decision Worksheet as a guide.

For providers affiliated with the MassGeneral Brigham HealthCare System, these tools are available for download on PCOI, from our intranet under “visit tools”. The Decision Worksheets are also available for download here:

UroGyn Worksheets

If you’d like to make your own decision worksheet, please see our Designing a Decision Aid Workshop.

If you have used these Decision Worksheets with your patients, we’d like to hear your feedback.