Findings & Stories

During the Taking Action on Overuse project, we partnered with three diverse health care organizations that used the Taking Action on Overuse Framework to address overuse topics. The partner sites are UCLA Medical Group, Swedish Medical System, and Missouri Primary Care Association. Much was learned about the challenges and opportunities of addressing overuse.

Key takeaways

• Reducing overuse is challenging and takes time, perhaps more so than traditional QI projects.
• Sustained leadership engagement is necessary to the success of overuse reduction efforts.
• In addition to leader support, front-line engagement

The ultimate goal of the Taking Action on Overuse framework is to help your organization build a culture where care teams take ownership for reducing overuse. But what does this look like? Our research of medical overuse reduction efforts across the country revealed common indicators of success that include:

Set aside time and space for discussions about overuse
1. Devote a medical staff case conference, morbidity & mortality conference or medical grand rounds to a specific example of how overuse led to patient harm
2. Incorporate stories and strategies for reducing overuse into existing staff meetings, nursing rounds or

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

Sense-making literally means making sense of events. A typical conversation during our day is a simple exchange of information or feelings. Sense-making conversations are different in that they are reflective and often generative, with participants’ ideas informing and building on one another

Our article offers an introduction to the Framework and how we developed it. Share this summary with colleagues, residents, and others working to reduce medical overuse… read article