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| Society for Medical Decision Making | |
|---|---|
| Name | Society for Medical Decision Making |
| Abbreviation | SMDM |
| Formation | 1979 |
| Type | Professional association |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Region served | International |
| Membership | Physicians, researchers, policymakers |
Society for Medical Decision Making
The Society for Medical Decision Making is an international professional association focused on improving health outcomes through formal decision science. Founded by clinicians, statisticians, economists, and cognitive scientists, the organization brings together experts from across disciplines and institutions to advance methods in clinical decision analysis, health technology assessment, and shared decision making.
The Society for Medical Decision Making emerged in 1979 amid a growing interest in quantitative methods for clinical choices, joining a milieu that included institutions such as RAND Corporation, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University. Early contributors included scholars affiliated with Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, San Francisco, and University of Toronto who sought to formalize approaches pioneered during projects at National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and World Health Organization. Over subsequent decades the Society collaborated with professional bodies such as American Medical Association, American Statistical Association, International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, and academic centers including Yale University, Columbia University, Duke University, and University of Michigan to extend applications into comparative effectiveness research, health policy analysis, and decision support systems. The Society’s evolution paralleled methodological advances at laboratories like Bell Labs and policy efforts tied to events such as the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The Society’s mission is to improve health care decision making through rigorous application of quantitative and qualitative methods. Its objectives align with stakeholders from World Bank, United Nations, European Commission, and national health ministries to promote standards in decision modeling, cost-effectiveness analysis, and risk communication. Key aims include fostering methodological innovation among members affiliated with National Academy of Medicine, enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration with centers such as The Brookings Institution and Kaiser Permanente, and translating research into practice at organizations like Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic.
Membership comprises clinicians, biostatisticians, health economists, ethicists, and systems engineers from universities and agencies including Oxford University, Imperial College London, McMaster University, University of Melbourne, and Karolinska Institutet. The Society is governed by an elected board with officers who often hold appointments at institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, George Washington University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Committees liaise with groups like Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Food and Drug Administration, and professional societies including American College of Physicians and Royal College of Physicians to guide policy and standards.
The Society sponsors methodological working groups and collaborates on initiatives with entities such as International Committee of the Red Cross, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Programs emphasize development of decision-analytic models, probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and patient-centered decision aids used in settings from primary care at Partners HealthCare to specialty clinics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The Society supports training workshops with universities like University of Washington and University of Toronto and partners with software developers associated with projects at Carnegie Mellon University and University of Chicago to disseminate tools.
The Society publishes peer-reviewed work and methodological guidance that have influenced journals and organizations including The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, BMJ, Health Affairs, and specialty publications from American Heart Association and American Cancer Society. Its members have produced influential papers on Markov modeling, decision trees, and utility assessment used by agencies such as National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, and Pan American Health Organization. Collaborations with academic presses and societies like Oxford University Press and Wiley-Blackwell have yielded textbooks and guidelines applied in curricula at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Annual meetings convene researchers from regions represented by institutions such as European Medicines Agency, Asian Development Bank, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, and national academies including Royal Society and National Academy of Sciences. Meetings feature plenary sessions and workshops drawing leaders from Stanford Health Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Thomas Jefferson University. Educational offerings include short courses, webinars, and certificate programs delivered in partnership with Coursera-affiliated universities and professional schools.
The Society recognizes achievement through awards named for pioneers associated with institutions like Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, honoring contributions in decision analysis, methodological innovation, and mentorship. Recipients often hold fellowships or positions at bodies such as National Institutes of Health, Fulbright Program, Guggenheim Foundation, and professional chairs at universities including Yale School of Public Health and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The Society’s honors have been cited in biographies and institutional announcements at centers like Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic.
Category:Medical associations