Our goal is to promote a national dialogue on unnecessary tests, treatments and procedures, and support people to choose health care that is:
- supported by evidence
- not duplicative of other tests or procedures already received
- free from harm
- truly necessary
Launched in Australia by NPS MedicineWise in 2015, in partnership with Australia's health professional colleges, societies and associations, Choosing Wisely Australia challenges the way we think about healthcare, questioning the notion 'more is always better'.
As the catalyst for public discussion, Choosing Wisely Australia is encouraging clinicians and consumers to have better conversations about what care is truly needed – identifying which practices are helpful and which are not.
Choosing Wisely is governed by 6 core principles:
- health profession-led
- clear emphasis on improving quality of care and on harm prevention
- multidisciplinary
- consumer-focused communication between health professionals and consumers
- evidence-based
- transparency in process and supporting evidence
A large cross-section of specialist health professional colleges, societies and associations have led the initiative through the identification of practices that warrant scrutiny, examining the evidence and drawing on the expert opinion of their members to develop lists of recommendations of tests, treatments and procedures to question. These are published under the Choosing Wisely initiative.
These recommendations, together with our key Choosing Wisely consumer resource – 5 questions to ask your doctor or other healthcare provider resource about tests, treatments and procedures – are a key starting point towards reducing inappropriate and unnecessary healthcare.
Download the PDF: Choosing Wisely Australia
Get involved:
To find out how you can get involved in Choosing Wisely, please complete your details on the CONTACT US page and a member of the Choosing Wisely Australia team will be in touch with you shortly.