Choosing Wisely falls flat in reducing unnecessary tests

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