The Society for Medical Decision Making dedicates its efforts to promoting rational and systematic approaches to improving individual and public health, and informing societal health policy. Society members utilize multiple routes to disseminate the results of their analyses, including traditional print professional journal publications, and regional and national oral and poster presentations. The Society's annual meeting features current results which represent a rich cross-section of analytic disciplines: decision analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-benefit analysis, meta-analysis, simulation techniques, decision psychology, and medical ethics represent just a few of the methodologies highlighted at this meeting. Each annual meeting features a symposium that highlights a particular area of clinical, public health importance. This year's symposium, """"""""Does Cost- effectiveness Make a Difference? Lessons from Pap Smears"""""""", will highlight a series of analyses which have had public health impact. Using the Pap smear example, the speakers will discuss the impact economic evaluations can have on clinical practice and public policy. The goals for the symposium include: l) to explicate for the audience the analytical techniques used and modeling issues encountered in conducting these analyses, and 2) explore with the audience how such analyses can highlight areas for public policy decisions and clinical care. The presentations and discussion will be edited for publication in a supplement to the journal Medical Decision Making.
