Download press release - American Society of Breast Surgeons

Contact: Sharon Grutman
410-381-9500
[email protected]
AS PART OF CHOOSING WISELY® CAMPAIGN
The American Society of Breast Surgeons Releases List of Five
Things Clinicians and Patients Should Question
Columbia, Maryland, June 27, 2016 – The American Society of Breast Surgeons today released a
list of specific tests or procedures that clinicians and patients should question as part of Choosing
Wisely®, an initiative of the ABIM Foundation and Consumer Reports. The Society’s list was
developed over the last year after careful consideration and review, using the most current
evidence about management and treatment options. The list identifies five targeted, evidencebased recommendations that can support conversations between patients and clinicians about
what care is really necessary.
The Society identified the following five recommendations:
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Don’t routinely order breast MRI in new breast cancer patients.
Don’t routinely excise all lymph nodes beneath the arm in patients having lumpectomy
for breast cancer
Don’t routinely order specialized tumor gene testing in all new breast cancer patients.
Don’t routinely re-operate on patients with invasive cancer if the cancer is close to the
edge of the excised lumpectomy tissue.
Don’t routinely perform a double mastectomy in patients who have a single breast with
cancer.
“The Society’s recommendations provide valuable information to help patients and physicians
begin important conversations about treatment options and make informed choices about their
health,” said Sheldon Feldman, MD, President of The American Society of Breast Surgeons, the
primary leadership organization for general surgeons who treat patients with breast disease.
To date, nearly 100 national and state medical specialty societies, regional health collaboratives
and consumer partners have joined the Choosing Wisely® conversations about appropriate care.
With the release of these new lists, the campaign will have covered more than 450 tests and
procedures that the specialty society partners say are overused, and that physicians and patients
should discuss. Consumer Reports creates patient friendly material on these topics and has
covered more than 100 of these tests and procedures. ASBrS will be working with Consumer
Reports to develop these resources for some of their recommendations.
10330 Old Columbia Road, Suite 100, Columbia, MD 21046 ● Phone: 410-381-9500, 877-992-5470 (toll free) ● Fax: 410-381-9512
www.breastsurgeons.org
To learn more about Choosing Wisely and to view the Society’s recommendations visit
www.ChoosingWisely.org.
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About the American Society of Breast Surgeons
The American Society of Breast Surgeons is the primary leadership organization for general surgeons
who treat patients with breast disease, and is committed to continually improving the practice of breast
surgery by serving as an advocate for surgeons who seek excellence in the care of breast patients. This
mission is accomplished by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and by promoting education,
research and the development of advanced surgical techniques. Founded in 1995, the Society now has
more than 3,000 members throughout the United States and in 52 countries around the world.
For more information, visit www.breastsurgeons.org.
About the ABIM Foundation
The mission of the ABIM Foundation is to advance medical professionalism to improve the health care
system. We achieve this by collaborating with physicians and physician leaders, medical trainees, health
care delivery systems, payers, policy makers, consumer organizations and patients to foster a shared
understanding of professionalism and how they can adopt the tenets of professionalism in practice. To
learn more about the ABIM Foundation, visit www.abimfoundation.org, connect with us on Facebook or
follow us on Twitter.
About Consumer Reports
Consumers Reports is an expert, independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair,
just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. As
consumers become increasingly involved in their own health decisions, they need unbiased, accurate,
evidence-based information to compare their options and to make appropriate choices for themselves and
their families. For more information about Consumer Reports Health go
to www.ConsumerHealthChoices.org.
About Choosing Wisely®
First announced in December 2011, Choosing Wisely® is part of a multi-year effort led by the ABIM
Foundation to support and engage physicians in being better stewards of finite health care resources.
Participating specialty societies are working with the ABIM Foundation and Consumer Reports to share
the lists widely with their members and convene discussions about the physician’s role in helping patients
make wise choices. Learn more at www.ChoosingWisely.org.
10330 Old Columbia Road, Suite 100, Columbia, MD 21046 ● Phone: 410-381-9500, 877-992-5470 (toll free) ● Fax: 410-381-9512
www.breastsurgeons.org