The Medical Professionalism Blog

This week’s Recommended Reading features the latest on Choosing Wisely^®, public opinion on health care costs and other efforts to make wise use of health care resources:

• Inspired by the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely campaign, pharmacist Scott Gavura created a list of  “Five Things Pharmacists and Patients should Question,” which he says are “pharmacy-based, widely offered and offer little to no benefit to consumers.”
• A new poll by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NPR and Harvard School of Public Health found that 87 percent of Americans think that the cost of health care is a serious issue and that 57 percent believe that health care quality is a serious problem.
• The New York Times says that for hospitals and insurers, there is a “new fervor to cut costs.” The article features efforts by the UCLA Health System, the Cleveland Clinic, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Shield of California.