Doctors Group Tells Patients To Go For Cheaper, High-Value Treatments

[Greenbeard]

A few months after causing a minor stir by updating the group's ethics manual to advise physicians to provide "parsimonious care," the American College of Physicians announces that it's teaming up with Consumer Reports in an attempt to package evidence-based guidelines for the masses.

'High Value' Care Goal of New ACP Partnership:

NEW ORLEANS -- The American College of Physicians (ACP) and Consumer Reports are teaming up to help patients get the biggest bang for their healthcare bucks, starting with management of low back pain and diabetes, officials of both groups said here.

In a joint program called High Value Care, the two organizations are developing brief, to-the-point brochures that advise on expensive tests and treatments to avoid because they lack evidence that their benefits outweigh the costs and risks.

The brochures would be made available primarily via the Internet but would also be used in some form in the Consumer Reports print magazine and other products.

The first two brochures in the program were unveiled at the ACP's annual meeting. One tells patients with low back pain why they "probably don't need" x-ray, CT, or MRI scans; the other says that metformin is the best first-line drug for type 2 diabetes in most patients.

He said the initiative would dovetail with the new "Choose Wisely" campaign organized by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, in which the ACP and eight other medical societies each listed five tests and treatments that are commonly overused.

He also noted that, although Annals publishes evidence-based recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that may cover the same ground, it would remain independent of the Choose Wisely and High Value Care programs.

Intriguing.