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Clinical decision making is the use of diverse strategies to generate and test potential solutions to problems that are presented by patients. It involves using, acquiring, and interpreting the indicators and then generating and evaluating hypotheses. Clinical decision making takes place within the context of the physician-patient relationship and thus is embedded within the consultation process. Indeed, even if the duration is brief, individuals involved in dyadic interactions can, and often do, influence each other's cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. Theories about decision making suggest that people do not have stable and preexisting beliefs about self-interest but construct them in the process of eliciting information. Therefore, the way information is provided by the health provider is crucial in assisting patients to construct preferences and then deciding on a course of action. Thus, ignoring the nature of the physician-patient relationship that occurs during clinical encounters could undermine our understanding of how current clinical decision-making processes can be improved.

The first section of the entry presents the main characteristics of the two basic models of physician-patient relationships: the doctor-centered model and the patient-centered model. In response to the growing expectations of patients as well as the burden of managing uncertainty in routine clinical decision making, the second section briefly summarizes how a third model, the shared decision-making model, has evolved in the past decade. The last section highlights the gaps in knowledge and areas needing further research.

Basic Models

Patient-Centered Model

The patient-centered model of care is grounded in the client-centered psychotherapy model. It refers to a philosophy of care that aims at the best integration possible of the patient's perspective. This philosophy of care was proposed as an answer to a medical model that was focused mainly on the disease and that was felt to be unsatisfying. In line with this philosophy, the patient-centered model has been further developed to fit routine clinical practice. The main characteristics of the patient-centered model are (a) exploring the disease and the experience of the disease (the illness experience), (b) understanding the person and his or her situation, (c) finding common ground, (d) integrating health prevention and promotion, (e) promoting the physician-patient relationship, and (f) fostering realistic expectations. Finding common ground is defined as an agreement between the physician and the patient on three elements: the nature of the problem, the goals of treatment, and the roles each wants to play in decision making. Congruence between patients and their physician on the nature of the problem, the options, and their roles in decision making is expected to foster favorable patient outcomes, especially in the area of mental health (e.g., depression outcomes, well-being). The ultimate goal of the patient-centered model is the appropriate level of involvement of individuals in decisions affecting their health.

In recent years, in response to the difficulties associated with its definition and evaluation in its current form, the patient-centered model has been reconceptualized with a focus on five main characteristics: (1) the biopsychosocial perspective (the understanding of the person and his or her situation), (2) the patient as a person (exploration of the disease and the experience of the disease), (3) the sharing of power and responsibilities (finding common ground), (4) the therapeutic relationship (the promotion of the physician-patient relationship), and (5) the physician as a person (recognition of the influence of the personal qualities and subjectivity of the physician in the practice of medicine). This reconceptualization puts the focus on the sharing of responsibilities in decision making and the necessity of considering both perspectives, those of the patient and those of the physician.

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