The Choosing Wisely campaign that focuses on cutting down the numbers of unnecessary medical tests and treatments routinely used in primary care has just published its list of 28 recommendations of tests and treatments not to do. This list will be whittled down to 5 and published when the campaign launches this April in Australia.
In his blog Dr Justin Coleman, Chair of the RACGP working group for the NPS MedicineWise backed campaign writes:
To make the list:
- the intervention must be done often – indeed, too often!
- it must result in significant cost or harm, and
- the recommendation against the intervention must be backed by evidence.
If you are an Australian GP, you can vote on which of the top ten you think should make the cut, at the RACGP Choosing Wisely poll. You may not ever get to see the other 18, which is a pity, and why I’m publishing them here. They are not ‘official’ recommendations endorsed by anyone at this stage – we will work up the top five with full evidence and references, ready for official publication.
The 28 below are in rough order of what I think is important. As with all such lists, opinions will vary. I’d like to hear yours, so please do comment.
Because we have deliberately avoided the easy decisions and have concentrated on things which many GPs actually do, GP opinion is almost by definition divided for many of the recommendations. We don’t pretend to be adamant, but we do feel that the list is based on evidence.