Study shows high-value care knowledge lacking among most internal medicine residents
ACP has a High Value Care Initiative that includes a curriculum for residents to help doctors and patients understand the benefits, harms, and costs of tests and treatment options.
The results of a cross-sectional survey recently published in Academic Medicine found that in 2012 only about 25% of the 18,000 U.S. internal medicine residents surveyed feel that they know where to find the estimated costs of tests and treatments and just over half actively work to reduce health care waste. Cynthia “Daisy” Smith, MD, FACP, co-author of the study and a senior physician educator at ACP, said that this information informs efforts to train the next generation of internists to reduce health care waste and improve outcomes.
The study aimed to determine internal medicine residents' knowledge of, attitudes toward, and self-reported practice of high-value care, which is defined as care that balances the benefits, harms, and costs of tests and treatments. The survey used in the study was developed by ACP in conjunction with the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM).
ACP has a High Value Care Initiative, which includes a curriculum for residents co-developed with the AAIM, designed to help doctors and patients understand the benefits, harms, and costs of tests and treatment options for common clinical issues so they can pursue care together that improves health, avoids harms, and eliminates wasteful practices.