Consumer Health Choices

About the campaign

Recognizing that patients sometimes ask for tests and treatments that are not necessarily in their best interest, and that physicians often struggle with decisions about prescribing tests and procedures as a way of covering all possible bases, the ABIM Foundation has joined with leading medical specialty societies to develop evidence-based lists of tests and procedures for patients and physicians to question as part of Choosing Wisely^®. The goal of this campaign is to help physicians, patients and other health care stakeholders think and talk about overuse of health care resources in the United States. The campaign is part of the ABIM Foundation’s goal of promoting wise choices by clinicians in order to improve health care outcomes, provide patient-centered care that avoids unnecessary and even harmful interventions, and reduce the rapidly-expanding costs of the health care system.

Consumer Reports has joined the Choosing Wisely^® campaign to provide resources for consumers and physicians to engage in these important conversations about the overuse or misuse of medical tests and procedures that provide little benefit and in some cases harm. Consumer Reports is excited to be able to reach millions of consumers with important health care information in its role as the “consumer communicator” in the campaign. 

First launched with the contributions of nine medical societies in April 2012, the campaign was joined by more than a dozen additional societies in February 2013, each with their own lists of tests and procedures that physicians and patients should question.

Here is a single PDF containing the complete list of Choosing Wisely recommendations.

Physician Partners

Physician organizations initially participating in Choosing Wisely^® include:

• American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
• American Academy of Family Physicians
• American College of Cardiology
• American College of Physicians
• American College of Radiology
• American Gastroenterological Association
• American Society of Clinical Oncology
• American Society of Nephrology
• American Society of Nuclear Cardiology

The following Choosing Wisely^® specialty society partners released their lists in early 2013:

• American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
• American Academy of Neurology
• American Academy of Ophthalmology
• American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• American College of Rheumatology
• American Geriatrics Society
• American Society for Clinical Pathology
• American Society of Echocardiography
• American Urological Association
• Society for Vascular Medicine
• Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography
• Society of Hospital Medicine
• Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
• Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Here is the full updated list of specialty medical society partners.

 

Methods

As part of Choosing Wisely^®, each participating specialty society has identified its own list of five common tests or procedures whose use in their profession should be discussed or questioned. The societies were given the following parameters to develop the lists:

• Each item should be within the specialty’s purview and control;
• Procedures should be used frequently and/or carry a significant cost; and
• There needs to be evidence to support each recommendation.

Consumer Reports then is creating consumer education materials for each item, intended for patients and their families.

Collaborators

These organizations are joining Choosing Wisely^® to help disseminate information and educate patients on making wise decisions.

Consumer Communication Partners

 Outreach Network Partners

Commentary

Choosing Wisely guides prepared by Consumer Reports will reach many consumers through the 11 communications collaborators, each an organization with the potential to reach at least 1 million consumers.

These collaborators have expressed strong support for the goals and message of this campaign.

Cheryl Mathies, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Internal Affairs, AARP:  “AARP encourages individuals to be active partners in their care and to ask questions before they make health decisions. We’re pleased to be part of the Choosing Wisely campaign that identifies specific treatments and tests that should be questioned by physicians and patients before they are undertaken. We commend the participating specialty societies for their efforts to improve health care outcomes and their commitment to strengthening physician/patient partnerships.”

Stead Burwell, CEO, Alliance Health:  “This partnership with Consumer Reports underscores our shared commitment to helping consumers gain the knowledge and insights they need to navigate their health care choices. Too often a consumer’s health journey is fraught with anxiety, isolation and uncertainty. This helps gives patients the power to make better decisions inside a caring community of friends and loved ones.”

Larry Boress, President and CEO, Midwest Business Group on Health:  “Since the publication of our study on ‘the cost of poor quality,’ our employer members have been concerned about the overuse, underuse, misuse and inefficiencies in the health care market. This project will go a long way toward making consumers part of the decision-making process.”

Andrew Webber, CEO, National Business Coalition on Health:  “The National Business Coalition on Health, representing 56 employer-based health coalitions, is excited to join the national Choosing Wisely campaign as a active partner.  We look forward to activating the communication channels of our coalition members and the national network of 7,000 participating employers so we can help bring the important message to employees and their dependents that more care is often not better or necessary care and can be harmful to your health.”

Helen Darling, CEO, National Business Group on Health:  “Every patient wants to fully understand the benefits and risks of all their health care options. Speaking for large employers, we believe that consumers fully informed with objective, evidence-based information, will make different decisions about their health care than they would otherwise. And, they will be best served if their physicians, whom they trust the most, also are committed to helping patients “choose wisely.” We are thrilled that the thought leaders of medicine are committed to leading the nation to a more rational, evidence-based approach to health care. We appreciate the opportunity to work together on the challenging problems of overuse and misuse in health care. There is no better group to lead this initiative than ABIM and the specialty societies committed to this campaign. We are grateful for their leadership and vision.”

Bobbi Ryder, President and CEO, National Center for Farmworker Health:  “The purpose of health education is to positively influence the health behavior of individuals and communities as well as the living and working conditions that influence their health. We believe that the best way to do this is through the development of health education programs that involve the farmworker community from point of inception to point of implementation. We are pleased to be part of the Choosing Wisely campaign that identifies specific treatments and tests that should be questioned by physicians and patients  before they are undertaken. We are looking forward to working with Consumer Reports to create materials that include culturally sensitive components and deliver the most effective messages to encourage behavior change within the communities we serve.”

Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families:  “We are very pleased that the Campaign for Better Care (CBC) has the chance to join and support the new Choosing Wisely campaign.  Fragmented, uncoordinated care is a huge and debilitating problem in this nation; it plagues our health care system and causes enormous harm to patients and their family caregivers.  We cannot solve that problem unless clinicians make wise choices, and patients have solid information and are empowered to ask questions and make smart choices about their care.  We thank Consumer Reports and the ABIM Foundation for organizing Choosing Wisely, and plan to promote it aggressively with our members and our 150-member Consumer Coalition.”

David Lansky, CEO, Pacific Business Group on Health:  “At the Pacific Business Group on Health, we have a 2015 vision of a health care system where consumers are empowered, where they have the right information to choose care based on cost and quality. We are so pleased to be a part of this innovative effort that gets us closer to that goal.”

Kirk Adams, Executive Vice President, SEIU:  “When it comes to health care, knowledge truly is power. The 1.2 million nurses, doctors and health-care workers of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are committed to ensuring that everyone in America has access to the right information to make the best health-care decisions for themselves and their families. We are very proud to support the Choosing Wisely campaign.”

Leah Binder, CEO, The Leapfrog Group:  “The Leapfrog Group, an employer-led coalition advocating improvements in hospital safety and quality, recognizes that patients place their lives in the hands of health-care providers every day.  With the Choosing Wisely campaign, medical societies can earn the public’s trust by proving that they will provide the right care at the right time.  Through Choosing Wisely, we hope to advocate for shared responsibility between patients and providers to obtain the best care and outcomes.”

Pete Forsyth, Principal, Wiki Strategies:  “The opportunity to bring Wikipedia volunteers together with medical and consumer researchers and journalists in a project like this is tremendous.  Wikipedia and Consumer Reports share important values, but very different histories. Both projects provide useful information independent of the influence of advertising and monied interests. Both empower the public through access to information, and through opportunities to shape the way information is presented. The Choosing Wisely initiative will allow us explore the best ways to pursue our shared values, following the Wikipedian in Residence model, which has flourished in the museum and archive communities.’