The Medical Professionalism Blog
Category Archives: Managing Resources
Recommended Reading: April 13 – 20
This week’s Recommended Reading features articles on stewardship of resources and online professionalism: Johns Hopkins researchers conducted a randomized-controlled trial to determine whether presenting cost data to providers when they ordered a test affected test ordering. They found that presenting this data to providers resulted in a modest decrease in test ordering. In a recent [...]
Recommended Reading: February 22 – March 1
This week’s Recommended Reading features the latest articles on wise use of health care resources: The New York Times Well blog covered last week’s Choosing Wisely®press conference announcing the release of 90 more tests and procedures that physicians and patients should question. Jon Tilburt and ABIM/ABIM Foundation President & CEO Christine Cassel explain “Why the [...]
Where Do the Savings Go When Waste is Removed?
Recently, I spoke on a panel at a NEHI (New England Health Institute) Roundtable Discussion in Washington, DC on bending the cost curve. NEHI had released a list of actions that could reduce costs by more than $700 million and improve quality of care. Their recommendations included reducing medication errors, reducing antibiotic use, improving patient [...]
Recommended Reading: February 2 – 8
Learn about efforts to incorporate cost-consciousness into medical education and training in the latest Recommended Reading: In “The Value in the Evidence: Teaching Residents to ‘Choose Wisely.’” Christopher Moriates and colleagues describe a curriculum created by University of California, San Francisco residents to cultivate cost-consciousness and wise use of medical resources. Putting the Charter into [...]
There’s More To It Than Just Money
I highly recommend reading a recent report sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute (the employer of the authors) by Robert Berenson and Elizabeth Docteur entitled Doing Better by Doing Less; Approaches to Tackle Overuse of Services. It is an excellent analysis of approaches that address the issue of inappropriate and [...]
Recommended Reading: Reflecting on the Choosing Wisely Journal Articles of 2012
Since nine medical specialty societies announced their lists of “Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question” in April, 55 published journal articles have referenced the Choosing Wisely® campaign. For the final Recommended Reading post of 2012, we’ve culled a selection of those articles, and will share more in the new year. In order of publication [...]
Recommended Reading: October 20–26
This week’s Recommended Reading features articles on Choosing Wisely ® and physician professionalism. In “Choosing Wisely: Low-Value Services, Utilization, and Patient Cost Sharing,” researchers from the University of Pennsylvania reflect on the Choosing Wisely campaign and ask, “But if it is difficult in many situations for patients to choose wisely, and if there are significant challenges [...]
Are Physicians Aware of the Choosing Wisely® Campaign and Recommendations?
For Choosing Wisely to make a meaningful impact in encouraging physician and patient conversations about reducing unnecessary care, the leadership and efforts of the specialty societies partnering in the campaign will be the key factor in achieving success. We continue to get examples from many of the specialty societies of how they are spreading the [...]
Choosing Wisely: Harmonizing Clinical Guidelines to Improve Patient Care
When the original nine specialty societies were in the process of developing their recommendations as part of the Choosing Wisely® campaign, they asked ABIM Foundation staff how we would harmonize any that conflicted or appeared contradictory. Understanding the importance of each society’s contribution and respecting that they were the expert in their area, our response [...]
Costs of Care Essay Contest 2012: Stories from Patients and Their Caregivers Uncover Opportunities to Improve Health Care Value
As a presidential election looms and the American economy struggles to recover, the spiraling costs of health care have become a contentious political focal point without an obvious solution. Yet for patients and their caregivers, opportunities to get more bang for our buck present themselves every day. Over the last two years, as part of [...]
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