Choosing Wisely®
Choosing Wisely® is a campaign, developed by the ABIM (American Board of Internal Medicine) Foundation and supported by leading medical specialty societies, to help guide conversations between patients and clinicians – conversations about whether a medical test or procedure provides care for a patient that is supported by evidence, additive and not duplicative of past tests or procedures, free from harm, and truly necessary.
The goal of this campaign is to help physicians, patients and other health care stakeholders think and talk about the appropriate use of health care resources in the United States and avoid overuse if not abuse of those resources. The reality is that patients sometimes ask for tests and treatments that are not necessarily in their best interest, and physicians often struggle with decisions about prescribing tests and procedures as a way of covering all possible bases. This campaign attempts to create a moment to pause and question a course of treatment in an informed way.
Dr. Christine Cassel, President and CEO of the ABIM Foundation, describes what Choosing Wisely is all about in the short video below.
To see all of the lists of "Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question," provided by national specialty organizations and societies, please click here.
In collaboration with these national organizations and societies, Consumer Reports has created resources for consumers to help them better engage their physicians in some of these important conversations about medical tests and procedures. Atrius Health, of which Harvard Vanguard is an affiliate, is a participating organization in the Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP) effort to promote the Choosing Wisely campaign across Massachusetts.
Additional medical background and education has been provided for patients by Consumer Reports about tests and procedures that fall into the following general topics:
Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
- Allergy tests: When you need them and when you don't
- IgG replacement therapy: When you need it and when you don't
- Spirometry for asthma: When you need it and why
Antibiotic Use
Gastroenterology
Headaches and Migraines
- Treating migraine headaches: Some drugs should rarely be used
- Imaging tests for a headache: When you need them and when you don't
Women's Health
- Delivering Your Baby: Why scheduling early delivery of your baby is not a good idea
- Imaging tests for ovarian cysts: When you need them and when you don't
- Pap tests: When you need them and when you don't
- Imaging and tumor markers for breast cancer: When you need them and when you don't
- EKGs and exercise stress tests: When you need them for heart disease and when you don't
- Bone-density tests: When you need them and when you don't
Men's Health
- Imaging tests for early prostate cancer: When you need them and when you don't
- Treatment for erection problems: When you need testosterone treatment and when you don't
- EKGs and exercise stress tests: When you need them for heart disease and when you don't
Cancer
- Imaging and tumor markers for breast cancer: When you need them and when you don't
- Imaging tests for early prostate cancer: When you need them and when you don't
- Drugs to boost white blood cells for chemotherapy patients: When you need them and when you don't
- Cancer care at the end of life: When to choose supportive care
Cardiology
- Echocardiography for heart valve disease: When you need the test and when you don't
- EKGs and exercise stress tests: When you need them for heart disease and when you don't
- Heart imaging before surgery: When you need them and when you don't
- Heart tests before surgery : When you need an imaging test and when you don't
- Imaging tests after a heart procedure: When you need them and when you don't
- Imaging tests for heart disease: When you need them and when you don't
- Stress tests for chest pain: When you need an imaging test and when you don't
- Testing after heart procedures: When you need a nuclear stress test and when you don't
- Choosing a pain reliever: What to do if you have kidney disease or heart problems
Kidney Disease
- Choosing a pain reliever: What to do if you have kidney disease or heart problems
- Chronic kidney disease: Making hard choices
Imaging/Radiology
- Bone-density tests: When you need them and when you don't
- Chest X-rays before surgery: When you need them and when you don't
- Echocardiography for heart valve disease: When you need the test and when you don't
- Heart imaging before surgery: When you need them and when you don't
- Imaging and tumor markers for breast cancer: When you need them and when you don't
- Imaging stress tests: When you need them for your heart and when you don't
- Imaging tests after a heart procedure: When you need them and when you don't
- Imaging tests for a headache: When you need them and when you don't
- Imaging tests for heart disease: When you need them and when you don't
- Imaging tests for ovarian cysts: When you need them and when you don't
- Imaging tests for lower-back pain: When you need them and when you don't
- Testing for Alzheimer’s Disease: When you need a brain scan and when you don't
- Imaging tests for early prostate cancer: When you need them and when you don't
- Stress tests for chest pain: When you need an imaging test and when you don't
- Testing after heart procedures: When you need a nuclear stress test and when you don't
- EKGs and exercise stress tests: When you need them for heart disease and when you don't
