American Board of Internal Medicine Discusses Initiative to Limit Medical Tests

American Board of Internal Medicine president Christine K. Cassel, MD, discussed the foundation's Choosing Wisely initiative for medical tests and procedures in an interview with Medscape.

The initiative includes evidence-based recommendations from nine specialty organizations on potentially overused tests and procedures, the interview said. The goal is to use these recommendations as the basis for discussions between clinicians and patients.

"For both physicians and consumers, it is very, very important to emphasize that these are not lists of things never to do," said Dr. Cassel. "These are practices that are susceptible to overuse, and therefore both the doctor and patient ought to have a conversation about them. Patients should feel empowered to ask their doctors, 'Do I really need this?' And the doctors should have at their fingertips the information from their societies to answer that question. Our goal is to have this initiative be about a conversation."

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