ABIM Foundation Launches Choosing Wisely Newsletter
First launched in April 2012, the Choosing Wisely campaign has now grown to more than 60 specialty societies advancing conversations about waste and overuse in the health care system. The ABIM Foundation has created this monthly e-newsletter to bring you the latest news, updates and best practices from organizations around the country that are implementing core components of the campaign. We encourage you to subscribe, share this resource with your colleagues and submit ideas for future stories.
Upcoming issues will highlight the work of organizations partnering in the Choosing Wisely effort, including the more than a dozen leading medical specialty societies that will release new lists of specific tests or procedures in early 2014.
The new lists add to the growing library of more than 220 tests and procedures that have been identified as potentially harmful and therefore may require further discussion between patients and physicians.
Societies releasing lists in 2014 include:
- American Association of Critical-Care Nurses/American College of Chest Physicians/American Thoracic Society/Society of Critical Care Medicine (Critical Care) – January 11
- Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance – January 16
- American Society of Anesthesiologists* (Pain) – January 21
- Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine – February 3
- Heart Rhythm Society – February 10
- AmericanCollege of Occupational and Environmental Medicine – February 24
- American Geriatrics Society* – February 27
- American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology* – February 28
- American Association of Neurological Surgeons – March 11
- American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation – TBD
- AABB (formerly known as American Association of Blood Banks) – TBD
- American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases – TBD
- American Medical Society for Sports Medicine – TBD
- American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons – TBD
- American Society of Plastic Surgeons – TBD
- Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions – TBD
*Releasing a second list
These lists continue the conversation started two years after the first nine lists were released, and will help inform critical conversations about waste and overuse as stories appear in the media and blogs on a daily basis. Recent highlights include:
- For the second straight year, the Choosing Wisely campaign was featured by Medscape in “The Year in Medicine: News That Made a Difference.”
- HealthLeaders Media named “Choosing Wisely” as one of its top health care buzzwords to watch in 2014.
- In late 2013, Internal Medicine News published a Point/Counterpoint featuring ABIM Foundation President and CEO Richard Baron asking “Will Choosing Wisely improve quality of care?”
The body of literature on Choosing Wisely also continues to grow, with more than 175 articles now published on the campaign and the society recommendations. Included in this number are 20 articles from the societies themselves delving into the science and evidence behind their lists.
A sampling of articles includes:
- American Academy of Dermatology Choosing Wisely List: Helping dermatologists and their patients make smart decisions about their care and treatment
- Choosing Wisely in Headache Medicine: The American Headache Society’s List of Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question
- The American Academy of Neurology’s Top Five Choosing Wisely recommendations
