The Choosing Wisely campaign, developed to curb spending tied to unnecessary testing, hasn't done much to change the number of tests it identified as wasteful.
Researchers with Anthem published a study in JAMA Internal Medicine that reviewed claims over a two-to-three year span ending in 2013. Of the seven tests that Choosing Wisely has identified as unnecessary, only two (imaging tests for uncomplicated headache and cardiac imaging without a history of cardiac conditions) showed a decline. The rest, including human papillomavirus testing for women younger than 30 and imaging for lower back pain without red-flag conditions, increased or stayed the same. The authors say that the campaign may need to implement new measures to better educate physicians about current testing best-practices. Article