How to Use Shared Decision-Making to Improve Healthcare
5 min read
Healthcare providers are certainly experts in the field, professionally trained to collect and analyze data on patients and recommend care options they believe best meet patients’ needs. But the patient also plays a role, providing input based on their values and desired health outcomes. The physician-centered approach of the past has begun to evolve, shifting to a more collaborative model called shared decision-making. Let’s take a look at how shared decision-making is improving healthcare.
What Is Shared Decision-Making?
Shared decision-making describes a collaborative communication and decision-making process between a healthcare provider and a patient. During shared decision-making, the provider offers the patient clear, detailed information about their health condition and options for treatment, including the benefits and drawbacks of each course of action. The care team seeks to understand the patient’s concerns and how their values and health goals influence treatment decisions. Together, the patient and physician come to a shared agreement on the best course of action and work collaboratively to implement the decision.
Using the SHARE Approach to Improve Patient-Provider Shared Decision-Making
The SHARE Approach was developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) as a framework to support healthcare providers in integrating shared decision-making into their daily practice. This acronym embodies the best practices that make this approach to physician-facilitated decision-making so effective.
Seek your patient’s participation
The cardinal principle of the SHARE Approach is inviting your patient to engage in the process. They may choose not to, and that’s okay. But every interaction should begin with an invitation to take part in the process. After the problem has been presented, let the patient know there is more than one treatment option and their input is valued.
Help your patient explore and compare treatment options
Options always exist. In nearly every circumstance, there’s more than one possibility for how treatment proceeds. Begin by listing the options in writing, explaining the benefits and drawbacks of each along with the expected outcomes. Avoid medical jargon, use visual aids like charts or graphs, and incorporate decision aid tools to break down complex decisions. Asking your patient to explain in their own words what each option would entail can help you gauge the level of understanding to ensure your patient has an accurate understanding of the choices presented.
Assess your patient’s values and preferences
Discovering what’s important to your patient can help providers guide further discussion on treatment options to reach a medically-sound consensus that aligns with patient values. Start the discussion by asking open-ended questions, responding with empathy as patients share what’s most important to them as it relates to their medical condition and the treatment options available. Demonstrating active listening and empathy helps build patient trust, a key asset needed to move forward with treatment once an agreement has been reached.
Reach a decision with your patient
Once values have been expressed and treatment options presented, ask if the patient is ready to make a decision. They may need additional time to consider what’s been discussed, conferring with family members or others in their support network. If a decision isn’t made, set a date in the near future when their preferred treatment option can be expressed.
Evaluate your patient’s decision
Once a treatment decision has been made and treatment has begun, monitor the effectiveness of the chosen option and identify how well it’s performing. Be prepared to revisit the decision, helping the patient evaluate if additional options need to be considered in light of how the chosen treatment is progressing.
How Does Shared Decision-Making Help Patients and Providers?
Shared decision-making offers numerous advantages to both patients and healthcare providers. This cooperative approach actively engages all stakeholders to create care plans that support medical best practices and align with the needs and values of patients.
Aligns with informed consent best practices
Informed consent is required before any medical care, treatment, or services are provided. Shared decision-making supports the informed consent process by actively engaging the patient in decisions related to achieving their desired health outcomes. As patients and providers collaborate, patients are able to ask questions, receive information on the pros and cons of each option presented, and assist in choosing the one that best aligns with what’s most important to them.
Improves quality of patient care
Shared decision-making combines the expertise of the healthcare provider with the values, concerns, and input of the patient. This process helps to strengthen the trust and confidence the patient has in the quality of care they receive, fostering a stronger patient-provider relationship. By taking time to listen and learn, the healthcare provider gains valuable information about the patient they can use to guide the discussion towards the option most likely to meet the patient’s health objectives.
Helps address disparities in healthcare
Some patients face significant barriers to accessing care. These could include lack of reliable transportation, lack of trust in the healthcare system, significant work or childcare obligations, or concerns about the affordability of proposed treatments. Healthcare providers who take the time to listen are better equipped to refer patients to community resources that can alleviate these constraints or tailor treatment recommendations that take important extenuating circumstances into account.
Boosts patient engagement
Ultimately, a collaborative approach helps boost patient engagement. When patients are listened to and validated, they’re more likely to actively participate in their care. This heightened engagement can take the form of keeping scheduled medical appointments, greater treatment plan compliance, and greater levels of participation in lifestyle changes needed to reach mutually agreed-upon health goals.
How Withings Health Solutions Supports Shared Decision-Making
Withings connected devices collect and transmit key health metrics. These connected devices provide physicians and patients with valuable information that plays an important role in the shared decision-making process.
Easy to use, engaging device designs increase patient engagement
Our connected devices are designed to activate high levels of patient engagement. Their simple design makes it easy for patients to unlock the full potential of remote patient monitoring technology.
Multiple connectivity options
With Wi-Fi, cellular, and Bluetooth connectivity options, providers can pair patients with devices that feature the best connectivity option for them, improving adoption rates.
Extensive collection of remote patient monitoring devices
Withings has a comprehensive line of smart connected devices, including blood pressure monitors, scales, sleep mat, and activity trackers, that may be easily incorporated into a remote patient monitoring program.
Unlocking the Full Potential of Shared Decision-Making
Encouraging patients to engage with providers as equal partners in the medical decision-making process unlocks a host of benefits for both parties. Healthcare providers are better equipped to provide treatment that aligns with patient health goals and values. And active input results in patients feeling empowered, with confidence that the treatment they chose to pursue will best support their desired health outcomes.
Learn how Withings Health Solutions can help support shared decision-making.
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Chronic Kidney Disease stage 5 on dialysis (CKD5D) presents one of the most complex and high-risk scenarios in modern medicine. Among the many challenges faced by these patients, cardiovascular disease (CVD) stands out as the leading cause of mortality—a stark reminder of the systemic stress that accompanies kidney failure and dialysis.
But what if technology could help bridge the gap between dialysis sessions, offering clinicians a window into the patient's health in real-time? An article in Frontiers in Nephrology explores exactly that, highlighting the transformative potential of digital health technologies to monitor and manage CKD5D patients beyond the clinic.
The Hidden Risks Between Dialysis Sessions
For CKD5D patients, the risks of CVD are amplified by both traditional and disease-specific factors:
Traditional risks like hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.
CKD-specific risks such as inflammation, fluid overload, protein-energy wasting and vascular calcification.
The dialysis process itself, which induces rapid fluid shifts, blood pressure fluctuations, and metabolic imbalances.
Current clinical care models often focus on in-center dialysis data, leaving a crucial blind spot during the interdialytic period—a time when many adverse events begin to develop unnoticed.
A New Monitoring Paradigm: The Withings Toolkit
The article introduces a compelling case for home-based, connected health technologies—specifically, the Withings toolkit. This suite of medical-grade, consumer-friendly devices allows CKD patients to monitor key health indicators in the comfort of their homes:
Weight, body composition and ECG monitoring with the BodyScan smart scale.
Blood pressure, heart rate and survey responses for added context via BPM Pro 2.
Sleep quality and breathing event metrics using the Sleep Rx.
All data is seamlessly uploaded to the Withings Remote Patient Monitoring platform, providing healthcare providers and researchers with real-time, longitudinal insights into a patient’s well-being.
Why This Matters: Real-World Clinical Benefits
1. Early Detection of Complications Weight gain could signal fluid retention, but muscle loss could indicate protein-energy wasting. A sudden spike in blood pressure or irregular heartbeat might indicate arrhythmias or volume overload. Poor sleep patterns could reflect apnea or restless leg syndrome—conditions with known ties to CKD.
2. Personalized, Data-Driven Care These devices enable a dynamic view of health trends, allowing clinicians to tailor treatments proactively rather than reactively. Medication adjustments, fluid restrictions, or further diagnostics can be made with greater confidence.
3. Patient Empowerment
When patients can see and understand their own data, they become more engaged in their care. This promotes better self-management, increased treatment adherence, and a stronger sense of control over their condition.
4. Systemic Healthcare Advantages Remote monitoring can reduce emergency visits and hospitalizations, easing the burden on overtaxed healthcare systems and offering a cost-effective alternative to frequent in-person evaluations.
The Future: Digital Tools as Standard of Care?
While still in its early stages, this integration of digital health into CKD care reflects a broader movement toward remote, preventative, and personalized medicine. The Withings case study serves as a promising example of how everyday technology can be adapted to serve complex clinical needs.
However, as the authors note, more clinical trials are needed to validate these tools in nephrology settings, establish protocols for data use, and ensure equitable access across diverse patient populations.
Final Thoughts
As we face growing rates of kidney disease and limited nephrology resources, connected health technologies offer a lifeline—not just to patients, but to an entire care infrastructure in need of modernization.
The Withings toolkit is more than a gadget suite; it's a glimpse into the future of chronic disease management, where data flows continuously, care is adaptive, and patients are active participants in their own health journey.
Contact Us
[post_title] => Revolutionizing Chronic Kidney Disease Management with Digital Health Tools: The Withings Case Study
[post_excerpt] => Researchers from Imperial College London explored how continuous, contactless sleep monitoring using the Withings Sleep Analyzer can be used to detect acute conditions, focusing particularly on urinary tract infections (UTIs) before patients even recognize symptoms.
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Introduction
A recent study published in Frontiers in Digital Health by Capstick et al. (2024) underscores an emerging insight in connected care: our sleep may hold the earliest signs of illness. The researchers explored how continuous, contactless sleep monitoring using the Withings Sleep Analyzer can be used to detect acute conditions, focusing particularly on urinary tract infections (UTIs) before patients even recognize symptoms.
Why UTIs Matter
UTIs are among the most common bacterial infections and can have serious consequences, especially for older adults. Elderly patients are often less likely to recognize or report early symptoms, as infections may present atypically with fatigue, confusion, or subtle behavioral changes rather than the classic urinary urgency or burning. Cognitive decline, sensory changes, and overlapping chronic conditions can further delay diagnosis, increasing the risk of severe complications such as sepsis or hospitalization (National Institute on Aging).
Sleep as a Source of Early Clues
The study found that changes in nocturnal physiology such as altered heart rate, respiratory rate, movement patterns, and restlessness can signal infection onset days before clinical diagnosis. These signals are detectable through non-contact sensors that monitor sleep continuously in the home environment.
Capstick and colleagues demonstrated that automated analysis of nightly biometric data could identify deviations associated with early infection, including UTIs. Because sleep reflects autonomic nervous system activity and systemic inflammation, subtle physiological disruptions during rest can serve as early indicators of infection or other health deterioration.
Implications for Remote Monitoring
These findings highlight how sleep monitoring could serve as a low-burden, scalable screening tool for early infection detection, particularly for vulnerable populations such as older adults, individuals in long-term care, or patients with chronic diseases. Integrating this capability into remote monitoring programs could help clinicians:
Detect infections earlier and initiate treatment sooner.
Reduce emergency visits and hospitalizations linked to delayed diagnosis.
Monitor recovery and flag recurrence through ongoing nocturnal data.
A New Frontier for Preventive Care
The study reinforces the growing role of connected devices in transforming passive observation into proactive health surveillance. By continuously analyzing sleep patterns, care teams can detect not only chronic deterioration but also acute, time-sensitive conditions like UTIs.
As the authors note, sleep monitoring technologies offer “an opportunity to identify clinically significant events earlier than would otherwise be possible.” For connected health innovators, this opens a new frontier: turning nightly rest into a source of life-saving insight.
Reference: Capstick A, et al. Digital remote monitoring for screening and early detection of disease using nocturnal physiological signals.Frontiers in Digital Health. 2024. Available via PMC.
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[post_title] => Sleep as an Early Warning System: Detecting Hidden Health Risks Like Urinary Tract Infections
[post_excerpt] => Researchers from Imperial College London explored how continuous, contactless sleep monitoring using the Withings Sleep Analyzer can be used to detect acute conditions, focusing particularly on urinary tract infections (UTIs) before patients even recognize symptoms.
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This article is based on our November 14, 2025 interview with Christelle Bakarat.
Christelle Bakarat is the Head of Chemistry for Withings, a role she has held since 2020, after joining the company in 2016. She studied chemistry and chemical engineering, with a PhD in plasma physics. The team she leads is specialized in the development of chemical and biochemical reactions on paper for the detection of biomarkers in urine and other body fluids.
Emma Lugten (EL): Christelle, thank you for taking the time to talk about U-Scan for our researcher newsletter. The product is getting a lot of attention. Can you tell us how the U-Scan product got started and how its main goal has changed over time?
Christelle Barakat (CB): Absolutely. The first idea for U-Scan came from Éric [Carreel] back in 2014 after a discussion with a doctor. The original goal was very specific: to use detailed urine analysis as an easy way to check for prostate cancer. I joined the company in 2016, and since then, the project has grown a lot. We realized the core technology could do much more than just check for one disease. The vision changed from a simple testing tool to a broad platform for checking your health every day. This bigger goal is what has really shaped how we’ve developed the product.
EL: That’s a great way to put it. Can you explain the current technology? What makes U-Scan stand out when it comes to checking your health at home?
CB): We are currently working with the third, very advanced version of U-Scan. We first had an electrochemical version, followed by a very advanced microfluidic chip and we are now using paper chemistry based on classical dipstick models. The system is composed of two parts, a reader and a cartridge where the reader is durable and the cartridge is a consumable. By having one standard device we can address different use cases by selecting the relevant urinary biomarkers to analyse. What truly sets U-Scan apart from existing solutions is the seamless experience combined with its ability to provide a goldmine of concrete, quantifiable data, all without requiring users to change their daily habits. This data empowers users to optimize their lifestyle, their diet, or their medical condition.
The core value of this system lies in its ability to test a wide array of biomarkers and support numerous use cases by simply swapping cartridges, ensuring that different needs are addressed effectively, even if the initial cost may be a bit high.
EL: What are those different uses? What can we buy right now, and what new applications can we look forward to soon?
CB: The first product we launched is a nutrition cartridge. This gives people immediate, helpful feedback on their diet and how much water they are drinking. This is a great way to start the habit of checking their health all the time. Looking ahead, we have big plans for new health checks. We are working on cartridges for important areas where people need help, including kidney stones, bacterial urinary tract infections (UTIs), how the body handles stress, and a special cartridge focused on women’s health. The kidney stone and UTI cartridges, for example, go beyond simple tracking to give important early warning signs, which can be vital for people managing those conditions.
EL: It sounds like you are getting into some serious medical areas. Are you working with any researchers or running clinical studies to prove that the technology works for these new uses?
CB: Yes, that is extremely important to us. While U-Scan is not yet a medical device, we have adopted a very rigorous scientific approach. We have worked with several doctors to confirm the clinical utility of our biomarkers, and we have conducted analytical performance studies according to medical guidelines and criteria. We are now initiating a proof-of-concept study to demonstrate that the mere act of using U-Scan drives positive behavioral changes that mitigate the risk of kidney stones, and a subsequent study is planned to validate the long-term effectiveness of our Calci cartridge in reducing the rate of kidney stone recurrence.
EL: Finally, looking past the products you’ve already planned, do you have a personal, long-term dream for what U-Scan could achieve?
CB: My personal dream is to take U-Scan even further and create a cartridge that is purely for prevention. This wouldn’t be for a single illness, but instead, it would check a mix of general markers, things like how much salt or sugar you have in your system, and general signs of inflammation. The main goal is to give people an ongoing, clear picture of their health before a problem even starts, or at least early enough to reverse the tendency. Imagine seeing a possible issue starting and being able to make small changes, all based on the daily chemistry of your body. That is the kind of powerful, forward-looking health care I hope U-Scan can make possible.
Interested in partnering with us?
Contact Us
[post_title] => An Interview with Christelle Bakarat on the Research Potential of U-Scan
[post_excerpt] => Christelle Bakarat is the Head of Chemistry for Withings, this article is based on an interview with her where she discusses how U-Scan came to be, and its potential for research across different diseases and conditions.
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Chronic Kidney Disease stage 5 on dialysis (CKD5D) presents one of the most complex and high-risk scenarios in modern medicine. Among the many challenges faced by these patients, cardiovascular disease (CVD) stands out as the leading cause of mortality—a stark reminder of the systemic stress that accompanies kidney failure and dialysis.
But what if technology could help bridge the gap between dialysis sessions, offering clinicians a window into the patient's health in real-time? An article in Frontiers in Nephrology explores exactly that, highlighting the transformative potential of digital health technologies to monitor and manage CKD5D patients beyond the clinic.
The Hidden Risks Between Dialysis Sessions
For CKD5D patients, the risks of CVD are amplified by both traditional and disease-specific factors:
Traditional risks like hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.
CKD-specific risks such as inflammation, fluid overload, protein-energy wasting and vascular calcification.
The dialysis process itself, which induces rapid fluid shifts, blood pressure fluctuations, and metabolic imbalances.
Current clinical care models often focus on in-center dialysis data, leaving a crucial blind spot during the interdialytic period—a time when many adverse events begin to develop unnoticed.
A New Monitoring Paradigm: The Withings Toolkit
The article introduces a compelling case for home-based, connected health technologies—specifically, the Withings toolkit. This suite of medical-grade, consumer-friendly devices allows CKD patients to monitor key health indicators in the comfort of their homes:
Weight, body composition and ECG monitoring with the BodyScan smart scale.
Blood pressure, heart rate and survey responses for added context via BPM Pro 2.
Sleep quality and breathing event metrics using the Sleep Rx.
All data is seamlessly uploaded to the Withings Remote Patient Monitoring platform, providing healthcare providers and researchers with real-time, longitudinal insights into a patient’s well-being.
Why This Matters: Real-World Clinical Benefits
1. Early Detection of Complications Weight gain could signal fluid retention, but muscle loss could indicate protein-energy wasting. A sudden spike in blood pressure or irregular heartbeat might indicate arrhythmias or volume overload. Poor sleep patterns could reflect apnea or restless leg syndrome—conditions with known ties to CKD.
2. Personalized, Data-Driven Care These devices enable a dynamic view of health trends, allowing clinicians to tailor treatments proactively rather than reactively. Medication adjustments, fluid restrictions, or further diagnostics can be made with greater confidence.
3. Patient Empowerment
When patients can see and understand their own data, they become more engaged in their care. This promotes better self-management, increased treatment adherence, and a stronger sense of control over their condition.
4. Systemic Healthcare Advantages Remote monitoring can reduce emergency visits and hospitalizations, easing the burden on overtaxed healthcare systems and offering a cost-effective alternative to frequent in-person evaluations.
The Future: Digital Tools as Standard of Care?
While still in its early stages, this integration of digital health into CKD care reflects a broader movement toward remote, preventative, and personalized medicine. The Withings case study serves as a promising example of how everyday technology can be adapted to serve complex clinical needs.
However, as the authors note, more clinical trials are needed to validate these tools in nephrology settings, establish protocols for data use, and ensure equitable access across diverse patient populations.
Final Thoughts
As we face growing rates of kidney disease and limited nephrology resources, connected health technologies offer a lifeline—not just to patients, but to an entire care infrastructure in need of modernization.
The Withings toolkit is more than a gadget suite; it's a glimpse into the future of chronic disease management, where data flows continuously, care is adaptive, and patients are active participants in their own health journey.
Our patient-centric care solution utilizes portable Withings cellular devices that are not tied to a single patient. Instead, care teams can use one device to collect and transmit data for an unlimited number of individuals. The integrated cellular connectivity automatically directs the data into the correct patient’s medical record, simplifying data collection and improving care delivery regardless of the setting.
