Strategies to improve chance of success include familiarization with evidence behind recs
THURSDAY, July 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Strategies should be adopted to help with implementation of the Choosing Wisely program, which was designed to address the problem of medical overuse, according to an article published in the July/August issue of Family Practice Management.
Kenny Lin, M.D., M.P.H., from the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and colleagues discuss implementing the Choosing Wisely program into practice. Choosing Wisely provides top-five lists to describe routinely performed, high-cost medical services that lack strong evidence-based support, and requires patients and physicians to accept that health does not always improve when more care is delivered.
The authors also discuss key strategies for improving the likelihood of success in implementing Choosing Wisely. They suggest familiarization with the recommendations and the evidence behind them; patient education materials should be provided for patients and displayed in waiting and examination rooms. Motivational interviewing techniques should be adopted to help patients make informed decisions and reinforce the therapeutic partnership, including asking open-ended questions, practicing reflective listening, and summarizing key aspects of the discussion. Electronic medical records can be used to help implement a Choosing Wisely approach, recognizing that unnecessary testing and treatment increases costs.
“By embracing Choosing Wisely, family physicians can be leaders in a worldwide movement to reduce medical overuse and provide better quality care for all patients,” the authors write.
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