Sorenson Leads Project to Address Low-Value Health Care

Corinna Sorenson, PhD, has received a grant from the National Pharmaceutical Council to investigate why efforts to eliminate low-value health care in the United States have been largely unsuccessful.

Low-value care, which includes existing health care practices, technologies, procedures, or services that are deemed to deliver little to no health gain for their cost and/or where the risk of harm exceeds the likely benefit, has been addressed by organizations such as the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation (Choosing Wisely initiative) and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, but the available evidence suggests that to date these efforts have not sufficiently moved the needle to reduce or eliminate use of low-value care in the U.S. health care system. 

“We want to explore why previous and existing initiatives to discourage low-value care have not succeeded based on a review of the relevant literature and expert interviews,” said Sorenson. 

The research will identify key barriers influencing the uptake, implementation, and impact of initiatives to reduce or eliminate low-value care; recommend potential incentives, strategies, and policies to address those barriers; and explore the overall feasibility of initiatives that seek to provide better quality of care, reduce costs, and redirect resources expended on low-value care toward investments in high-value care.