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Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic conditions worldwide, affecting an estimated 422 million individuals (1). Disrupted insulin production and resistance to insulin leads to aberrant carbohydrate metabolism. Left untreated, chronically elevated blood sugars damages capillary walls and causes severe end-organ damage.

Patients and physicians continue to work together to make complex medical decisions. Healthcare providers continue to make efforts to enhance the different decision-making models and tools available to improve this process. While decision-making models such as paternalistic and informative, may have their advantages, shared decision-making (SDM) has proven to be the current ideal approach, resulting in increased patient satisfaction. In addition, technological advancements offer further opportunities for patients and surgeons to implement innovative decision-making models. In this review, we will define the three decision-making models and discuss the potential for modern tools available to increase information available for patients and enhance the communication between patients and physicians allowing for more informed clinical decisions, using total joint replacement as an example.