Share this video: More is not always better

One theme underlying Choosing Wisely and similar campaigns is not necessarily obvious to the audience: Some tests and treatments are wasteful, useless and even harmful. That’s not an easy message to deliver to patients and their families. They have come to expect whole arrays of procedures to help diagnose and treat a disease. Yet doctors have identified dozens of…

ByChristine AustinJune 26, 20230Comments

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Was that care appropriate? Share your story!

With so much of our healthcare spending — an estimated 30 percent — going toward needless tests and treatment, Consumer Reports has stepped up its efforts to highlight both the most effective health choices and to promote awareness of inappropriate procedures. We help you find the safest, most effective drugs and help you focus on the…

ByChristine AustinJune 26, 20230Comments

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Our new video: Talking points

Want to quiz your doctor about that test, diagnosis or treatment? How can you squeeze your questions into an already rushed appointment? We know it’s not easy. So here’s our newest Choosing Wisely video, Talking With Your Doctor, with tips from doctors themselves on how to get the answers you need. The video features our popular poster, five questions…

ByChristine AustinJune 26, 20230Comments

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Missed the patient expo? We took notes!

Ever had one of those meetings that was so successful that you wanted to share it with everyone? It happened to us, when we teamed up with the American College of Physicians in San Francisco for a public presentation: “Your Health: Fact Not Fiction.” Hundreds of consumers and patients were there for the Patient Empowerment Expo, peppering…

ByChristine AustinJune 26, 20230Comments

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Choosing Wisely, in real life

When does health information change behavior? When a consumer knows more about the effectiveness, safety or cost of a medical test or treatment, do they act differently the next time they’re sick? It’s an important question underlying all our campaigns. That’s why this story is so encouraging. Tierney Anderson, who blogs for The Alliance, a group of Wisconsin employers trying…

ByChristine AustinJune 26, 20230Comments

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Choosing Wisely campaign grows again

The Choosing Wisely campaign begins its third phase today, with three new lists of “things physicians and patients should question.” The new lists were assembled by AMDA, the American College of Surgeons, and the ACS’s Commission on Cancer. More than 30 medical specialty groups will contribute their lists to this wave of the campaign, over the next several months. Choosing Wisely is part of…

ByChristine AustinJune 26, 20230Comments

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How to prevent and treat “overdiagnosis”

Experts from all corners of medicine have converged on Dartmouth College in New Hampshire this week in an effort to come to grips with “overdiagnosis” — a costly and risky trend toward seeing disease where there is none and providing unneeded tests and treatments. The three-day conference is an international partnership among Bond University in Australia, the…

ByChristine AustinJune 26, 20230Comments

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Choosing Wisely for Women

If you’ve been following us on Twitter this week, you will have picked up on a trend: Many of the Choosing Wisely topics address things that women commonly experience in the health care system: overused Pap tests and ovarian ultrasound exams, for instance. Of particular concern among procedures is the needlessly high rate of early childbirth. We’ve asked Dr. Jose Luis Mosquera, a…

ByChristine AustinJune 26, 20230Comments

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A grandson’s quest for the best care

Why do we do what we do? Because people like Zvi Frankel have to work so hard, just to find safe, effective medical treatments. His account of his quest — to help his grandfather find the right heart-valve operation — first was published in JAMA Internal Medicine. It reminds us of the value in making data…

ByChristine AustinJune 26, 20230Comments

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How to keep antibiotics around a little longer

Antibiotics matter. But the way that patients, doctors and the meat industry use them, they are at risk of being rendered useless. That’s why Consumer Reports has launched an in-depth, publicly available hub on antibiotics, on this site. We urge you to share these materials with your friends and family and think about them the next time…

ByChristine AustinJune 26, 20230Comments

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