Toward a “Choosing Wisely” Future in Medicine

Abstract

The “Choosing Wisely” campaign is an activity to promote conversations between patients and doctors about unnecessary examinations, treatments, or procedures. A “Top five list” published by a number of specialty societies consists of five evidence-based recommendations in their own fields. Choosing Wisely Japan was launched in 2016; the campaign soon became widespread among primary care physicians. To make wiser choices in prescriptions of any medicine, it is necessary to consider the balance between its efficacies, risks, and costs. The purpose of this campaign is not only to publish recommendations to reduce waste in health care resources but also to disseminate and implement the recommendations contents. To put them into practice, it is necessary to think about interprofessional and interdisciplinary approaches.