Battegay E. & Cheetham, M. (2017). Choosing Wisely – An international and multimorbid perspective. Zeitschrift für Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualität im Gesundheitswesen,129, 27- 30. doi:10.1016/j.zefq.2017.10.010.

Battegay E. & Cheetham, M.

Some medical diagnostic and therapeutic interventions are non-beneficial or even harmful. The Choosing Wiselycampaign has encouraged the generation of “top five” lists of unnecessary low-value services in different specialist areas. In the USA alone, where the campaign was launched, these lists include a total of 450 evidence-based recommendations. Professional associations in further countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Switzerland and Germany have since initiated Choosing Wisely campaigns. Besides implementing top five lists, these aim to change attitudes, expectations and practices in the culture of medicine. The field of internal medicine has spearheaded change in Switzerland (Swiss Society of General Internal Medicine: Smarter Medicine) and Germany(German Society of Internal Medicine: Klug entscheiden). Formulating Choosing Wisely principles in managing complex patients with multiple concurrent acute or chronic diseases, i.e., multimorbidity(MM), will present a particular challenge. Research is needed to determine the primary sources of overuse in specific combinations of diseases (i.e., MM clusters) and spearhead correspondingrecommendations. National Choosing Widely campaigns may serve as a forerunner to a more global initiative.

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