Shared Decision Making: Essential Skills for Prostate, Lung & Breast Cancer Screening

Shared Decision Making: Essential Skills for Prostate, Lung & Breast Cancer Screening is organized by Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS)

Activity Term:
Original Release Date: September 12, 2018
Termination Date: September 12, 2021

Accreditation:
AMA Credit Designation Statement
The Massachusetts Medical Society designates this internet enduring material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

National Commission on Certification of Physicians Assistant (NCCPA)
Physician Assistants may claim a maximum of 1.000 Category 1 credits for completing this activity. NCCPA accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by ACCME or a recognized state medical society.

Course Description:
For patients, making decisions about getting screening tests for cancer involves weighing the benefits of early cancer detection and the possible harms.  The benefit is reduced risk of death from the cancer. Harms include over-diagnosis with associated over-treatment, the adverse effects of unnecessary diagnostic procedures, and the emotional costs of dealing with false positive test results. To assist women aged 40-49 in making decisions about breast cancer screening and supporting all patients making decisions about lung or prostate cancer screening, the best practice involves engaging patients in a robust shared decision-making (SDM) process. This process should be facilitated by a health care provider with full knowledge of the benefits and harms of a screening process and the skill to help the patient identify and apply their relevant values to the decision.

This four-module webinar series is designed to equip providers with the requisite knowledge and skills for facilitating SDM for 3 cancer screening processes: prostate, lung, and breast (for women aged 40-49). Participants will learn how to interpret and communicate quantitative information about the likelihood of benefits and harms from cancer screening tests. The webinar series also highlights specific techniques for supporting patients in identifying and applying their preferences, values and beliefs related to cancer screening and the screening decision. A panel presentation that concludes the webinar offers participants practical strategies and tools for introducing SDM into clinical workflows.

Course Objective:
• Define and describe the key elements and 6 steps of Shared Decision Making for cancer screenings
• Identify the reasons for using Shared Decision Making when offering patients cancer screening
• Present and compare the benefits and risks of prostate, breast and lung cancer screening using decision aids when appropriate
• Facilitate Shared Decision Making for cancer screening into practice
• Identify ways and means for integrating Shared Decision Making for cancer screening into the clinical work flow of practice