Media releases

Choosing Wisely Update - March 2021

Latest news from Choosing Wisely Australia

In this edition of our newsletter: Submit an abstract for the 2021 Choosing Wisely Australia National Meeting; join us at the National Medicines Symposium, and get involved in Choosing Wisely Week. You can also read about promoting value-based care in EDs across Queensland, a five-step dermatology telehealth guide, and why Northern NSW Local Health District has become our 43rd Choosing Wisely Australia Champion Health Service

Submit an abstract for the 2021 Choosing Wisely Australia National Meeting

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The virtual Choosing Wisely Australia National Meeting will take place on Wednesday 19 May 2021 with the theme Empowering consumers to choose wisely.

The deadline for abstract submissions has been extended by one week. Abstract submissions now close on Monday 22 March 2021 and are invited for lightning talks and e-posters displays in one of four streams:

  • building consumer confidence in shared decision making
  • health professionals leading by example
  • impact of ‘the conversation’
  • changing culture in organisations and systems.

If you submitted an abstract for the 2020 Choosing Wisely National Meeting, which was cancelled due to COVID-19, you are encouraged to update and resubmit your abstract for this year’s National Meeting.

Registration is now open at $100 for the full day online event.

We hope you will join us for this cross-disciplinary event which will bring together influential organisations, individuals and decision makers in the health sector to discuss and debate key issues around consumer empowerment

Join us at the virtual 2021 National Medicines Symposium

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The day before the Choosing Wisely Australia National Meeting, on Tuesday 18 May 2021 is the National Medicines Symposium (NMS) – also an entirely virtual event.

The theme for NMS 2021 is Evaluating quality use of medicines: How do we know if we’re making a difference?

Program streams include collaboration with impact, measurement in practice: data and indicators, evaluating systems-based approaches to the quality use of medicines, and innovations in measurement.

Abstract submissions for lightning talks and e-posters close on Monday 22 March.

Anyone registering for both NMS 2021 and the Choosing Wisely Australia National Meeting before 29 March 2021 will receive an early bird reduced rate of $175 for both events. Registration includes exclusive access to recordings of the relevant events.

Registration is now open for both the National Medicines Symposium 2021 on 18 May 2021 and the Choosing Wisely National Meeting on 19 May 2021. Registration for each event is $100, or $175 for both events for those registering before 29 March 2021

Time to get ready for Choosing Wisely Week - 22-28 March

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During Choosing Wisely Week (22-28 March 2021), champion health services around Australia will be promoting Choosing Wisely and showcasing projects that reduce unnecessary tests, treatments and procedures for the benefit of consumers.

Choosing Wisely is encouraging health professional colleges, consumer health organisations and other Choosing Wisely stakeholders to take part in Choosing Wisely Week and spread the Choosing Wisely message.

Our free downloadable Choosing Wisely Week toolkit offers a range of items health services can use as part of their promotional and engagement activities, including the 5 Questions resources, key messaging, social media posts and videos to share, and a media release template.

Don’t forget to use #ChoosingWiselyWeek to share how you’re promoting Choosing Wisely Week across the network. We look forward to hearing about and seeing photos of Choosing Wisely Week activities from health services all around the country.

Promoting value-based care in Emergency Departments across Queensland

Emergency Room

The PROV-ED Choosing Wisely initiative uses the clinician education and information dissemination platform of the PROV-ED (PROmoting Value-based care in EDs) project to promote six Choosing Wisely recommendations from the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) in Emergency Departments (EDs) across Queensland.

Read the full story here.

Your dermatology telehealth appointment – A five step guide

Telehealth

The Australasian College of Dermatologists has developed a new patient resource for dermatology telehealth appointments.

Read full story here.

Northern NSW Local Health District becomes 43rd Choosing Wisely Australia Champion Health Service

Northern NSW

Northern NSW Local Health District joined Choosing Wisely Australia in February 2021, becoming our 43rd champion health service.

Dr Tim Williams, Executive Director, Medical Services at Northern NSW Local Health District, explains why they came on board want what they hope to achieve as a Choosing Wisely supporter.

“The Northern NSW Local Health District (LHD) provides healthcare to over 270,000 people in the urban and rural areas of the north-eastern corner of NSW. Our hospital, community health and multipurpose services provide care to communities which extend from Tweed Heads to Byron Bay, Ballina and Yamba on the coast, and across Grafton, Casino, Lismore, Kyogle and Nimbin in our hinterland.

Northern NSW LHD has been building its capabilities to deliver the NSW Health program of value-based healthcare. Providing outcomes that matter to patients, optimising the patient and carer experience, and delivering those effectively and efficiently are our goals. Ensuring that we avoid the risks, time-wasting and misallocation of resources that accompany low value care is part of our vision of moving from volume-based to value-based health care.

We plan to commence a multidisciplinary Choosing Wisely committee at each of our three major sites, with those committees choosing projects most relevant to the site, committee membership and patient needs.

We look forward to engaging with other Choosing Wisely services as we build those projects with our clinicians and patients.”

Stewardship toolkit for clinical educators

The Health Resource Stewardship for Clinical educators contains educational material about the Choosing Wisely initiative for use in universities, hospitals and health professional colleges

More details

5 Questions

5 questions to ask your doctor or other healthcare provider to make sure you end up with the right amount of care.

Find out more