Choosing Wisely is a United States-based health educational campaign started in 2012 and led by the ABIM (American Board of Internal Medicine) Foundation. The campaign seeks to improve doctor–patient relationships and promote patient-centered care by informing patients and physicians about overutilization of medical resources.
Over 70 medical societies across many different specialties have released recommendations that will help facilitate wise decisions about the most appropriate care based on patient need. Even Consumer Reports has partnered with the ABIM Foundation to help the societies create patient-friendly materials that help educate and offer resources for patients to discuss their medical treatments with their doctors.
As a part of the Choosing Wisely campaign, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has recently updated their evidence-based recommendations of ‘Things Providers and Patients Should Question.’ They recommend that physicians avoid routinely adding adjuvant whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) to stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for treating limited brain metastases. Studies have demonstrated the addition of adjuvant WBRT to SRS is associated with diminished cognitive function and worse patient-reported fatigue and quality of life.
To read the ASTRO “Ten Things Physicians and Patients Should Question” list in its entirety, go to: http://www.choosingwisely.org/societies/american-society-for-radiation-oncology/.
