On Choosing Wisely, Canadian edition

Choosing Wisely Canada is, of course, the Canadian version of an initiative of the American Board of Internal Medicine that seeks to reduce the number of unnecessary medical procedures done. In Canada, the campaign  will involve voluntary measures to spur both patients and physicians to reconsider the need for procedures that are not truly necessary are likely to cause harm (or little benefit); that duplicate other tests of procedures already conducted; or are not supported by evidence; You will notice that the emphasis seems to vary, with writers emphasizing the harm that can be done by such procedures and the aim of improving patient care. In other cases, the motivation is different. In this internal newsletter for the University of Toronto Department of Medicine from April 2013, Chair Wendy Levinson emphasized the importance of wisely managing scare health care resources and balancing responsibility to individual patients with the need to ensure sustainability of the overall healthcare system. She described it as a question of stewarding finite resources. Last week, in a Globe & Mail article from this past Friday, Dr. Levinson discusses why unnecessary tests should be avoided, for the good of the patient and simply for good, evidence-based medicine. She specifically says here that Choosing Wisely Canada is not about cost cutting or rationing.  While both goals do indeed overlap, and both seem completely laudable, I would like to read more about the differences in fu...
Source: Open Medicine Blog - - Category: Medical Publishers Authors: Source Type: blogs