NASS answered with a letter published last week, explaining the goals of the “Choosing Wisely” campaign and how it developed the recommendations.
“Choosing Wisely is not focused on avoiding tests or procedures as a way to lower healthcare costs, but instead is focused on avoiding harm and eliminating waste. A byproduct of fewer patients receiving unnecessary care will be fewer dollars spent on healthcare,” said NASS Choosing Wisely Task Force Chair F. Todd Wetzel, MD.
The organization said it did not address spinal fusion due to gaps in the scientific literature, according to the letter. Additionally, the recommendations against using bone growth material in cervical spinal fusion were necessary, argued the letter, because the practice has not “completely ceased.”
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