Brian Zikmund-Fisher
@bzikmund.bsky.social
Professor @ UMich. Research making health & risk data communications intuitively meaningful, narratives, improv. Editor-in-Chief of Medical Decision Making & MDM Policy & Practice. Opinions my own.
Very proud of authoring this JAMA piece summarizing the most evidence based recommendations we have about communicating probabilities and test results to patients. Now to hope that people believe that using these best practices matters!
Clinicians can enhance patient understanding by using numerical data instead of verbal probabilities, consistent denominators, absolute risk comparisons, and clear context for unfamiliar data types.
ja.ma/4pAC3zi
ja.ma/4pAC3zi
September 25, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Very proud of authoring this JAMA piece summarizing the most evidence based recommendations we have about communicating probabilities and test results to patients. Now to hope that people believe that using these best practices matters!
The Making Numbers Meaningful Systematic Review papers are now available! Review of 316 papers on communicating health-related probabilities to the public. 1,119 findings. Methods / scoping paper, 6 evidence summary papers, 5 editorials. All open access.
journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...
journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...
February 24, 2025 at 8:24 PM
The Making Numbers Meaningful Systematic Review papers are now available! Review of 316 papers on communicating health-related probabilities to the public. 1,119 findings. Methods / scoping paper, 6 evidence summary papers, 5 editorials. All open access.
journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...
journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...
Reposted by Brian Zikmund-Fisher
🎉 Meet the Member: Brian! 🎉
🧠 Area of Expertise: Risk Communication & Shared Decision-Making
🎭 Fun Fact: Uses improv theater games to enhance teaching, research presentations, and communication skills!
Brian has been an SMDM member since 2000 and deeply values its mentoring culture. 💙
🧠 Area of Expertise: Risk Communication & Shared Decision-Making
🎭 Fun Fact: Uses improv theater games to enhance teaching, research presentations, and communication skills!
Brian has been an SMDM member since 2000 and deeply values its mentoring culture. 💙
February 20, 2025 at 8:19 PM
🎉 Meet the Member: Brian! 🎉
🧠 Area of Expertise: Risk Communication & Shared Decision-Making
🎭 Fun Fact: Uses improv theater games to enhance teaching, research presentations, and communication skills!
Brian has been an SMDM member since 2000 and deeply values its mentoring culture. 💙
🧠 Area of Expertise: Risk Communication & Shared Decision-Making
🎭 Fun Fact: Uses improv theater games to enhance teaching, research presentations, and communication skills!
Brian has been an SMDM member since 2000 and deeply values its mentoring culture. 💙
Great to see my friend and colleague @ldscherer.bsky.social and Kirsten McCaffery from @sydneyhealthlitlab.bsky.social in today's New York Times talking about how calling something "cancer" may not be helpful for decision making about DCIS!
Tagging @smdm.bsky.social for amplification.
Tagging @smdm.bsky.social for amplification.
When ‘Cancer’ Gets in the Way of Treatment
Some oncologists suggest that, for certain early cancers not at risk of spreading, the term “cancer” should be avoided.
www.nytimes.com
January 30, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Great to see my friend and colleague @ldscherer.bsky.social and Kirsten McCaffery from @sydneyhealthlitlab.bsky.social in today's New York Times talking about how calling something "cancer" may not be helpful for decision making about DCIS!
Tagging @smdm.bsky.social for amplification.
Tagging @smdm.bsky.social for amplification.
Great discussion by my colleague @kaytesb.bsky.social on what actually happens to direct-to-consumer genetic testing data.
Many who undergo direct-to-consumer genetic testing don’t realize that their data are being licensed to pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
JAMA Viewpoint authors @kaytesb.bsky.social and Anya E. R. Prince discuss this gap between consumer expectations and what is being done.
ja.ma/40uGL7q
JAMA Viewpoint authors @kaytesb.bsky.social and Anya E. R. Prince discuss this gap between consumer expectations and what is being done.
ja.ma/40uGL7q
January 10, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Great discussion by my colleague @kaytesb.bsky.social on what actually happens to direct-to-consumer genetic testing data.
I've published literally hundreds of studies, but this one will always be special. I'm so proud to have helped Dr. Cathryn Lapedis show so convincingly how BAD current prostate biopsy pathology reports are compared to a simple patient-centered design. PLUS: my first JAMA article ever!
Patient-centered pathology reports improved patients' understanding of prostate biopsy results and their ability to accurately assess their cancer diagnosis and risk level, compared to standard pathology reports.
ja.ma/4a3c38z
ja.ma/4a3c38z
January 2, 2025 at 8:32 PM
I've published literally hundreds of studies, but this one will always be special. I'm so proud to have helped Dr. Cathryn Lapedis show so convincingly how BAD current prostate biopsy pathology reports are compared to a simple patient-centered design. PLUS: my first JAMA article ever!