Appropriate Use of Therapeutic Interventions to Foster High-Value Care
Authors: Amir Qaseem
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2016)

Letters6 December 2016Appropriate Use of Therapeutic Interventions to Foster High-Value CareAmir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHA, for the High Value Care Task Force of the American College of Physicians*Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHAFrom American College of Physicians, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania., for the High Value Care Task Force of the American College of Physicians*Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M16-0596 SectionsSupplemental MaterialAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Background: The health care system in the United States underperforms on most quality markers compared with its international counterparts, despite U.S. health care spending having reached an unsustainable level ($3.0 trillion annually) (1, 2). The American College of Physicians (ACP) defines care as "high value" when potential benefits of an intervention outweigh potential harms and costs (3). This concept hinges on net benefit: A low-cost intervention is not necessarily high-value if the harms outweigh the benefits. Conversely, an expensive intervention may be high value if the benefits outweigh the harms. This observation summarizes the responses of internal medicine physicians who ...References1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. FastStats: health expenditures. 2016. Accessed at www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/health-expenditures.htm on 26 October 2016. Google Scholar2. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Health at a Glance 2015: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing; 2015. Google Scholar3. Owens DK, Qaseem A, Chou R, Shekelle P; Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians. High-value, cost-conscious health care: concepts for clinicians to evaluate the benefits, harms, and costs of medical interventions. Ann Intern Med. 2011;154:174-80. [PMID: 21282697]. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-154-3-201102010-00007 LinkGoogle Scholar4. Qaseem A, Alguire P, Dallas P, Feinberg LE, Fitzgerald FT, Horwitch C, et al. Appropriate use of screening and diagnostic tests to foster high-value, cost-conscious care. Ann Intern Med. 2012;156:147-9. [PMID: 22250146]. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-156-2-201201170-00011 LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From American College of Physicians, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Disclaimer: The authors of this observation are responsible for its contents, including any clinical or treatment recommendations.Financial Support: Financial support for the development of this observation comes exclusively from the ACP operating budget.Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M16-0596. All financial and intellectual disclosures of interest were declared and potential conflicts were discussed and managed. A record of disclosures of interest is kept for each High Value Care Task Force meeting and conference call and can be viewed at www.acponline.org/clinical-information/high-value-care.*For members of the High Value Care Task Force of the American College of Physicians, see the Appendix. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byMolecular genetic overlap between posttraumatic stress disorder and sleep phenotypesFollow-Up Decision Support Tool for Public Healthcare: A Design Research PerspectiveInterventions that do not provide value identified 6 December 2016Volume 165, Issue 11Page: 831-832KeywordsDisclosureFoodHealth careLife expectancyMotivationOpioidsOutpatientsPain managementPatientsSub-specialty care ePublished: 6 December 2016 Issue Published: 6 December 2016 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2016 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...