Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with the Chicago Tribune, featured a story [1]on the Choosing Wisely [2] lists of test and treatments, in particular that doctors may have overlooked services that impacted their respective incomes. The story cited findings from a New England Journal of Medicine perspective [3]that found that the services included on the first 26 Choosing Wisely lists focused on radiology, medications, and cardiac and laboratory testing rather than physician services. This perspective was based in part on a HCFO-funded study [4]by Carrie Colla, Ph.D., Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel Medical School, and Meredith Rosenthal, Ph.D., Harvard School of Public Health, who examined the prevalence, variation, and correlates of overuse of low-value services, as designated by the Choosing Wisely initiative.
Links:
[1] http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/April/14/doctors-overlook-own-lucrative-procedures-when-naming-others-unwise.aspx
[2] http://www.choosingwisely.org/
[3] http://www.hcfo.org/publications/choosing-wisely-%E2%80%94-politics-and-economics-labeling-low-value-services
[4] http://www.hcfo.org/grants/examining-choosing-wisely-list-tests-and-treatments-uncertain-or-low-value-way-reduce-waste-u
[5] http://www.hcfo.org/topics/costs-and-cost-containment
[6] http://www.hcfo.org/topics/organization-and-supply-care
[7] http://www.hcfo.org/topics/provider-payment-and-behavior
[8] http://www.hcfo.org/topics/quality-care