Today we celebrate Choosing Wisely’s 5^th anniversary! The Alliance is proud to be a grantee of this exciting and important campaign and to play a part in helping to advance its goals in Washington state.

Choosing Wisely® is a national initiative of the ABIM Foundation, in partnership with Consumer Reports, that is helping physicians and patients have conversations about the overuse of tests and procedures and supporting physician efforts to help patients make smart and effective care choices.

The past five years have been busy here in Washington state. The Alliance and the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA) continue to partner and support the work of the Washington State Choosing Wisely Task Force – a collaboration of health systems, medical groups, and health plans and partners across the state which have chosen to make Choosing Wisely a priority. Notable achievements include publishing the Choosing Wisely Action Manual for physicians, technical specifications that provide measures for evaluating provider implementation of Choosing Wisely recommendations, a clinical toolkit for consumer engagement, and two Choosing Wisely reports measuring appropriate use of select Choosing Wisely recommendations. And we’ll soon be sharing details about the second Choosing Wisely summit, to be held October 27, 2017.

Learn more about the Alliance’s work with Choosing Wisely, and the Washington State Choosing Wisely Task Force.

Here are some of the great resources developed by the Choosing Wisely campaign.

Choosing Wisely Provider Stories: These are stories of how five doctors and one physician assistant have used the Consumer Reports Choosing Wisely materials in their practices — and what happened.

Here are some facts and figures about the ways Choosing Wisely is helping encourage conversations aimed at reducing unnecessary tests and treatments in health care: