Healthcare Triage: Choosing Wisely and Encouraging Effective Treatment

Whenever I give a talk on the sorry state of the US health care system, someone asks me what we should do. My first comment is always something along the lines of “if we knew what to do, we’d have already done it”. But if I’m pushed, I will usually note that the best first step would be for us to stop doing things that don’t work.

There’s an organization dedicated to that. It’s called Choosing Wisely. It’s also the topic of this week’s Healthcare Triage.

For those of you who came here for references, here you go:

• Eliminating Waste in US Health Care
• Choosing Wisely – About
• Choosing Wisely – Lists of Recommendations
• I applaud the spirit, but remain skeptical
• There’s more to the problem than a lack of evidence
• Choosing Wisely identifies more unnecessary care

@aaronecarroll