Sharing Data with Providers Associated with Plummeting Rates of Unnecessary Medical Tests in Sweden
NYU Langone HealthThe rate of inappropriate cancer scans for low-risk prostate cancer patients in Sweden plummeted in the decade following a joint campaign to curtail such tests by Swedish County Councils and the National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) of Sweden, a professional association of Swedish urologists. The results, published today online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest that curtailing unneeded medical tests, an urgent healthcare policy goal in the United States highlighted in the Choosing Wisely Campaign, among other initiatives, is achievable, says Danil V. Makarov, MD, assistant professor of urology and population health at NYU Langone Medical Center and lead author of the study.