ASCP Transitions Choosing Wisely Program, Continues Commitment to Effective Test Utilization

After a highly successful 10-year run, the ABIM Foundation has chosen to discontinue its Choosing Wisely campaign. ASCP, which joined the Choosing Wisely campaign soon after its inception in 2012, has followed suit and is reorganizing its effective test utilization efforts to continue supporting the needs of patients and its members. ASCP’s effective test utilization initiatives will be folded into the work of its Quality and Patient Safety Steering Committee. Going forward, ASCP will continue to champion efforts to bring the right test to the right patient at the right time under its effective test utilization best practices campaign.

“ASCP has had tremendous success with its Choosing Wisely program, serving as the organization representing pathology. It’s been an incredible honor working with colleagues to identify services that provide the best value for our patients,” says Elise Occhipinti, MD, FASCP, chair of the Clinical Pathology Program at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, LA, and Chair of ASCP’s Quality and Patient Safety Steering Committee.

When the Choosing Wisely campaign was launched, the ABIM Foundation’s historic campaign sought to address the issue of over-utilization of testing across many facets of the healthcare industry and to spark conversations between clinicians and patients about what tests, treatments, and procedures are needed. Between 2012 and 2023, more than 80 specialty societies took part in the campaign.

“The ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely campaign was really the catalyst to get this conversation started and to put the framework for vetting recommendations in place,” says ASCP Chief Medical Officer Ali Brown, MD, FASCP. “It was highly successful, and ASCP is ready to take it from there.”  

“We will continue to accept and vet new recommendations under the effective test utilization best practices campaign,” she says. “ASCP is also moving toward an expanded focus where we will look at the implementation of practical tools and programs that laboratories across the country can use in their own utilization initiatives.”

ASCP’s participation in Choosing Wisely over the past decade engaged 761 members in the process of vetting the many recommendations that were proposed for inclusion. The diverse expertise that ASCP members brought to the table has touched a significant portion of the decisions made in patient care, Dr. Brown notes.

ASCP will be reaching out to those individuals who were involved in the past to see if they would still like to participate in developing effective test utilization best practices. On the very first day that a notice went out to members, ASCP received 60 responses.

“People are very excited for opportunities to serve,” says Liz Waibel. “Effective test utilization will remain a priority for ASCP. We will continue to utilize the National Pathology Quality Registry and dashboards to help drive benchmarking and analytics of this effort forward.”

In 2022, when the Choosing Wisely campaign was winding down, ASCP published a 10-year report to highlight the Society’s achievements. “Our efforts have been cited in numerous journal articles over the years,” Ms. Waibel says. “They laid the foundation for the implementation of effective test utilization in hospitals across the country. Going forward, we will continue to use the Choosing Wisely name when referring to measures established during that campaign. New measures will fall under our effective test utilization best practices.”

Call for Recommendations
ASCP is accepting nominations from pathologists and laboratory professionals of tests that you believe should be considered for inclusion in ASCP’s Effective Test Utilization Best Practices initiative. The ASCP lists of tests that should be questioned are developed under the leadership of the ASCP Center for Quality and Patient Safety. The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2024. For a list of criteria and more detailed description, click here.

To learn more about ASCP’s ongoing work in effective test utilization, please contact Liz Waibel at liz.waibel@ascp.org.

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