Avoiding unecessary medical tests and procedures

If you follow the news, you noticed on Thursday that a group representing 17 major medical professional bodies (such as family physicians, pediatricians, heart specialists and radiologists) published a list of 90 overused medications, tests and procedures.

This is actually an initiative called Choosing Widely which is a joint effort of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and Consumer Reports magazine for a couple of years now.

The idea is to come to agreement about medical treatments or tests that are often overused, and to try to educate both doctors and patients about them.  Clearly this could help to reduce the cost of medical care, but the focus of this is also on trying to avoid treatments and tests that often entail costs to patients, radiation exposure or invasive procedures or surgeries.

Choosing Wisely provides lists of its recommendations in both professional and patient-friendly language, so check it out!