Associate Professor Richard King AM has been appointed as the inaugural Chair of the Choosing Wisely Australia® Advisory Group.
Choosing Wisely Australia will launch on 29 April 2015. The initiative is led by Australia’s medical colleges and societies and facilitated by NPS MedicineWise.
NPS MedicineWise CEO Dr Lynn Weekes welcomed the appointment of Dr King, saying, “The initiative is health profession-led and I’m very pleased that Dr Richard King will bring his extensive experience and expertise in health to Choosing Wisely Australia. There is widespread interest in the launch of this initiative, and the Advisory Group under the leadership of Dr King will guide the implementation and growth of Choosing Wisely Australia as more colleges and societies come on board. The initiative brings a significant new voice to healthcare in Australia.”
Dr King has over 40 years experience in health. He is the Medical Director of Medicine at Monash Health and chair of the Victorian Policy Advisory Committee on Technology. Dr King was an inaugural member of the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC), helped establish HealthPACT and is a past Chairman of RACP (Vic) and the Council of AMA (Vic).
Dr King says he is excited about his involvement in Choosing Wisely Australia, “The aim of the initiative is to both help identify and reduce investigations and treatments that are of proven low value, with the outcome of improving healthcare provided to Australians. Australia’s medical colleges and professional societies are leading the way by discussing best practice and identifying those practices that warrant scrutiny by drawing on the expertise of members.”
Focused on high quality care, Choosing Wisely Australia will enable health professionals, healthcare stakeholders and Australians to start important conversations about tests, treatments and procedures where evidence shows they provide no benefit and in some cases can lead to harm. At the upcoming April launch, the first recommendations developed by participating colleges and societies will be released.
The following medical colleges and societies will be represented at the April launch:
* Australasian College of Emergency Medicine
* Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy
* The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
* The Royal Australasian College of Physicians
* The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists
* The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.