Reducing medical overuse is a long-term proposition. It requires us to challenge our long-held beliefs and practices regarding tests, medications and treatments, and discuss their potential for harm. It involves examining trusted, reliable data about overused services and making sense of the story they tell. And it necessitates new approaches to what were once standard ways of delivering care.
Sense-making conversations are the key to achieving these goals. These conversations:
- Offer a safe space for discussing overused services and brainstorming possible solutions
- Give providers and care teams an opportunity to reflect on the implications of how often they provide overused services
- Create common understanding about incidents in which overuse has occurred and the potential for harm to past, current, and future patients
- Pull the levers of intrinsic motivation by inspiring care teams to take ownership of the problem
- Build the momentum for action that leads to major reductions in medical overuse
The full Taking Action on Overuse Framework offers examples of how to integrate sense-making conversations into your overuse reduction initiatives.