Good chances of phasing out unnecessary care in Sweden

The phrase “choose wisely,” or Kloka clinical val in Swedish, was originally coined by an American general practitioner and professor of medical ethics who said that clinicians should take responsibility for the efficient use of resources — so that as many patients as possible can receive care. . He suggested that all professional societies in the US identify five non-essential measures that were commonly used, despite having no documented benefit for patients – and then phase them out one by one.

In connection with the Plenipotentiary Meeting of the Swedish Medical Association (SLS) in 2020, a proposal to introduce “choose wisely” in Sweden was also passed. A Wise Clinical Choices working group was appointed to survey the conditions for submitting the form. This report is now ready.

– Our maps show that there are good conditions for a pattern of care that are not beneficial by offering wise clinical choices in Swedish healthcare. And by steering health care towards long-term sustainability while reducing waste of resources, we can achieve increased quality, says Martin Sirander, chair of the working group. In a press release.

The report states, among other things, that “successful work with Strama in Sweden followed the same principles on which the Choose Wise movement is based” and that Strama is therefore a good role model to learn from for further work. But changing care according to wise clinical choices does not happen in the blink of an eye, says Tobias Alfvén, president of the Swedish Medical Association. to Dagens Medicine.

– He says that systemic work is required, including external financing.

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Wise clinical choices – letting go of what does not benefit the patient