Raimondo to launch statewide Choosing Wisely program

PROVIDENCE – In an effort to encourage more effective Q&A between patients and their doctors about treatment options and costs, the Rhode Island Business Group on Health and the Rhode Island Medical Society, as well as such strategic partners as Consumer Reports, will launch Rhode Island’s Choosing Wisely program on June 10 at Brown University. A broad coalition of physicians, patients and community and business leaders concerned about the rising costs of the overuse of health care resources are expected to attend the event, where Gov. Gina M. Raimondo will issue a proclamation making the state of Rhode Island the nation’s first “Choosing Wisely State.”

The program, which has received funding from the Rhode Island Foundation and support from Raimondo, the program also aims to increase public awareness about the risks of, and the alternatives to, opioid prescription pain medications, including Oxycodone and other narcotics. Attendees will receive free wallet cards, “5 Questions to Ask Your Doctor Before You Get Any Test, Treatment or Procedure.”

The Choosing Wisely program launch is June 10, from 8-10:30 a.m., at Brown University’s Salomon Center. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required at www.ribgh.org/events.

Choosing Wisely is a national effort led by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and Consumer Reports. Local entities RIBGH, Brown University, Amica, Washington Trust, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Rhode Island, United HealthCare and Tufts Health Plan are promoting Choosing Wisely. Its top campaign sponsor is The Journey to Hope, Health & Healing, a regional outpatient treatment center for opioid addiction; Hasbro has also signed as a campaign sponsor.

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Speakers at the Choosing Wisely event include Executive Vice President and COO of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation Daniel Wolfson; Manager of Integrated Health Systems General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works, Michelle Probert; and Dr. Ruth Potee, a family and addiction medicine physician in Massachusetts who chairs the Healthcare Solutions of the Opioid Taskforce of Franklin County, Massachusetts.

The Choosing Wisely (www.choosingwisely.org) program provides employers, physicians and consumers with patient-friendly information (including key questions to ask) on more than 400 medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, COPD, and chronic pain that may lead to opioid use.

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