Choosing Wisely Champions Spark Innovation in Health Care

Abstract

![Graphic][1] Unnecessary and wasteful practices in medicine continue to burden an already strained healthcare system. The current healthcare climate, however, provides pathologists and laboratory professionals a remarkable opportunity to lead the way in reducing unnecessary, often harmful testing while improving patient care. In collaboration with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation, ASCP would like to recognize several individual clinicians, as well as clinician teams, and their commitment to the ABIM Foundation's Choosing Wisely campaign. Since ASCP joined the Choosing Wisely campaign in 2013, many of its members have worked to advance the campaign's ideals, which intend to reduce waste in health care, in part by encouraging clinicians and patients to question which tests are really necessary, in order to decrease test overuse and improve the nation's healthcare system. “The Choosing Wisely Champions program recognizes clinicians for their contributions to the campaign, inspires clinicians seeking to implement Choosing Wisely in their own practices, and demonstrates how clinicians are driving change in health care,” says Lee H. Hilborne, MD, MPH, DLM(ASCP)CM, FASCP, chair of the ASCP Effective Test Utilization Subcommittee. “Clinicians can learn from one another by highlighting exemplars.” The Choosing Wisely Champions were chosen for advancing Choosing Wisely in their practice, playing a major role in the development of ASCP's recommendations, educating ASCP members about Choosing Wisely , conducting measurement of recommendations, validating research on the importance of recommendations, and demonstrating leadership of a local Choosing Wisely effort. Below are the honorees and a synopsis of their achievements. ### Jason Baron, MD; Anand Dighe, MD; John Branda, MD The Division of Laboratory and Molecular Medicine in the Department of Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) hosts a highly active, … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif