WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP) has been awarded a two-year grant from the ABIM Foundation to advance the organizations Choosing Wisely campaign. The goal of this effort is to encourage physicians and patients to discuss medical tests and procedures that may be unnecessary, and in some instances cause harm. Reducing unnecessary medical care can improve quality for Massachusetts patients.

The Massachusetts health care environment provides a fertile ground for Choosing Wisely to take hold, said Barbra G. Rabson, executive director of MHQP. As a Commonwealth we have made it a priority to find ways to achieve high quality and affordable care.

As a multi-stakeholder organization with a long history of focusing on improving quality, patient experience and appropriate use in Massachusetts, MHQP plans to integrate the Choosing Wisely program into its existing initiatives and will disseminate the lists from participating specialty societies to help physicians and patients talk in partnership about making important health care decisions.

"More care is not necessarily better care, said John McDonough, Professor of Public Health Practice and Director of the Center for Public Health Leadership at the Harvard University School of Public Health. The Choosing Wisely campaign provides concrete evidence and steps that both patients and providers can take to make sure that patients get the right care in the right way, and only that."

The grant extends the reach of the ABIM Foundations nationally renowned Choosing Wisely campaign, a program aimed at helping physicians, patients, and other health care stakeholders work together to ensure an appropriate level of care is delivered at the right time and in the right setting. To do so, Choosing Wisely has compiled lists from various medical specialty societies of evidence-based recommendations to aid physician-patient conversations about what is necessary and appropriate care.

"The Choosing Wisely recommendations are developed based on clinical evidence, and endorsed by physicians to help support conversations with patients," said Dr. Judith Melin, Associate Chief Quality Officer, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and member of MHQP's Physician Council. These patient-physician conversations are a key part of providing care that is high-quality and focused on the patient's needs."

Consumer Reports has partnered with the specialty societies to develop patient engagement materials that can aid patients and their families to better understand when care is helpful or can cause more harm than good. These materials will help patients talk with their doctors about their choices and allow them to make better informed decisions about their care.

Patients and their families want and need to have information like this readily available if they are to become better partners informed about care, says Lucy Costa, a member of MHQPs Patient and Public Engagement Council. With a strong mission that includes patient engagement and collaboration, MHQP is the right organizations to lead Massachusetts stakeholders in spreading the messages of Choosing Wisely.

To advance the Choosing Wisely campaign MHQP will:

Continued here:

Massachusetts Health Quality Partners Helps Physicians and Patients Talk About Health Care Decisions