Coastal Medical promotes Choosing Wisely campaign

PROVIDENCE – Coastal Medical, a primary care Accountable Care Organization that treats 120,000 patients, will pilot the “Choosing Wisely” campaign in three of its 20 offices in Rhode Island to encourage more effective communications between patients and clinicians regarding appropriate test and treatment options, according to a recent Coastal Medical statement.

Coastal Medical’s clinicians have received training in the campaign, which is an initiative of the ABIM Foundation, a nonprofit organization that explores how physician leaders, health care organizations and public policy can foster medical professionalism to improve health care for all, and Consumer Reports.

Coastal Medical’s currently participating offices – Coastal Medical Garden City in Cranston, Warren Avenue Medical in East Providence and Hillside Family Practice in Pawtucket – distribute Choosing Wisely wallet cards to their patients that list “5 questions to ask your doctor before you get any test, treatment, or procedure,” and their waiting rooms display Choosing Wisely “5 Questions” posters, Marilyn Boichat, Coastal Medical’s director of practice management and a registered nurse, told Providence Business News. She explained that the practice anticipates rolling out the campaign to all of its remaining offices early in 2017. “We want to make sure [everything was running] smoothly and will then expand it to all offices. It took some time to get the posters and we’re updating our website.”

“We are excited about Choosing Wisely for two reasons. First, it gives our patients educational tools that empower them to ask our doctors and other providers they may see smart questions about their care and treatment options. The answers will help them clearly identify their choices, saving them the time and trouble that come with unnecessary and wasteful tests and procedures,” Dr. Steven Kempner, Coastal Medical’s medical director, said in a statement. “Second, it helps start conversations between our clinicians and their patients that will lead to greater trust and understanding … our patients will realize their doctors are acting in their best interest.”

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“Choosing Wisely fits perfectly with our mission to provide high-quality care to patients, as well as our commitment to help them make educated decisions about their health,” Boichat said in the statement. “For example, we already have a patient education program in place for antibiotics that aims to raise awareness about the dangers of their overuse and quell the statewide C. difficile (C.diff) epidemic. Choosing Wisely materials will help reinforce this effort.”

Rhode Island Business Group on Health launched Rhode Island’s promotion of the Choosing Wisely campaign this summer and encourages health care organizations and employers statewide to implement the program. The release notes that Amica, Brown University, Electric Boat, Washington Trust, the state of Rhode Island and the city of Providence are among the entities using Choosing Wisely in conjunction with their employee benefits programs. The national Choosing Wisely campaign received local funding from the Rhode Island Foundation, endorsement by the Rhode Island Medical Society and support from the RIBGH.

More information on the Choosing Wisely campaign can be found HERE.

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