EFIM Choosing Wisely

The European Federation of Internal Medicine (EFIM) launched the Choosing Wisely Project in 2016, under the leadership of Prof. Nicola Montano during the first meeting in Milan. 
Read here full report. 
After being successfully coordinated for several years by Prof. Antonio Vaz Carneiro, the project has been led since 2023 by Prof. Omar Kherad (Switzerland).

The initial aim of the initiative was to design study methodologies and implementation strategies to evaluate whether an “appropriateness approach” could improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. A landmark study published by the EFIM Choosing Wisely Working Group addressed key barriers to implementation and explored how “less is more” medicine could be adopted across Europe.1
Over time, the scope of discussions has broadened. The working group now also explores:

• the role of education, inspired by programs such as STARS in North America,
• and more recently, the environmental co-benefits of reducing unnecessary medical interventions.

Meetings provide a platform for members to share ideas, network, and discuss the latest developments in internal medicine within the Choosing Wisely framework leading to some articles publications on behalf of working group 2, 3
Find the publications here: 

References

1.            Kherad O, Peiffer-Smadja N, Karlafti L, et al. The challenge of implementing Less is More medicine: A European perspective. Eur J Intern Med 2020;76:1-7.

2.            Kherad O, Carneiro AV, Choosing Wisely Working Group of the European Federation of Internal M. Ten year anniversary of choosing wisely campaigns. Eur J Intern Med 2022;103:118-119.

3.            Kherad O, Carneiro AV, Choosing wisely working group of the European Federation of Internal M. General health check-ups: To check or not to check? A question of choosing wisely. Eur J Intern Med 2023;109:1-3.

4.            De Lucia S, Furlan L, Montano N, et al. Choosing wisely and climate crisis: reducing low-value care as a strategy to curb healthcare environmental impact. Intern Emerg Med 2025.

Further information on the upcoming projects of the Choosing Wisely Working Group is available here: https://efim.org/system/files/highlights_from_ecim_2025_florence_cw.pdf