Photo from University of Idaho Digital Archive on Flickr. Creative Commons license.

Every medical treatment comes with the possibility of both benefits and harms. Understanding these tradeoffs is particularly important in the case of elective tests and procedures, where more than one reasonable treatment option exists and medical evidence does not point to a particular treatment choice as the “right” one. Such treatments are often called “preference-sensitive” because the rate at which they are delivered is sensitive to, or in part depends upon the patient or the provider’s preference.

When faced with choices among preference-sensitive treatments, both the provider and the patient should have an opportunity to participate in the decision. All too often, however, patients do not participate fully, even when the decision has the potential for a dramatic impact on their wellbeing.

For the full report, see the PDF at right.