Patient and doctor shared decision-making

Doctors and patients sharing the decisions about medical conditions appears on fact value to be a sensible way of dealing with a person's health.  However, David Meltzer, Chief of Hospital Medicine at the University of Chicago, argues that this approach, depending on the doctors' incentives and the knowledge of the patient, can often lead to increased costs.

In this interview with Norman Swan on ABC Radio National's Health Report, Dr Meltzer says that shared decision-making is a very positive practice in terms of health outcomes, but not in terms of health costs because patients are more likely to want more procedures and to stay longer in hospital.  Meltzer also discusses more cost-efficient use of multidisciplinary teams in hospitals.