As technology and medical knowledge progress, doctors and patients have access to many more screening tools. But with the availability of more tests, also comes the risk of overtesting and overdiagnosis, worries health care researcher, Alan Cassels and doctors Wendy Levinson and Eric Bohm.

They explain why more medical tests and treatments do not necessarily add value to care, how they can hurt our health care system — and what can be done to reduce the number of non-essential tests and treatments.

The inner workings of government
Keep track of who’s doing what to get federal policy made. In The Functionary.
The Functionary
Our newsletter about the public service. Nominated for a Digital Publishing Award.

Alan Cassels is a pharmaceutical policy researcher, author and expert advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca.

The inner workings of government
Keep track of who’s doing what to get federal policy made. In The Functionary.
The Functionary
Our newsletter about the public service. Nominated for a Digital Publishing Award.

Eric Bohm is an expert advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca and an Orthopaedic Surgeon with the Concordia Joint Replacement Group in Winnipeg Manitoba.  He is also an associate professor at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Bohm is helping to implement Choosing Wisely Canada in Manitoba.

Dr. Wendy Levinson is Chair of Choosing Wisely Canada and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is a member of the ABIM Foundation Board of Trustees, which created the Choosing Wisely campaign in the United States.

Interview by MĂ©lanie Meloche-Holubowski

MĂ©lanie Meloche-Holubowski
MĂ©lanie Meloche-Holubowski is a journalist intern at EvidenceNetwork.ca and a journalist with Radio-Canada.

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