A Canadian-led study finds that doctors who watched an educational video and received monthly feedback reports ordered fewer unnecessary cardiology tests. Echocardiograms are one of the most commonly ordered diagnostic tests, but they can lead to false positive findings that can lead to more invasive tests, and potentially, harm to patients. In the Echo Wisely trial, a group of physicians received an educational video along with individualized, monthly feedback from an app. Compared to the control group, cardiologists and primary care providers who received the support had a lower rate of unnecessary testing (8.6%) compared with those who did not (11.1%). The authors call the individual feedback and anonymous findings of doctors' peers a powerful tool in changing behaviour. Overall, it's estimated that up to 30% of diagnostic tests are unnecessarily ordered each year in Canada.
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