At UCSF, we are working hard to improve the lives of patients and populations by creating and implementing urgently needed new practices, policies, therapies and cures. With this goal in mind, the UCSF Caring Wisely Program was created in 2013. UCSF Caring Wisely engages front-line providers to identify areas of opportunity to streamline services, reduce waste, and improve the care of all UCSF patients, through a crowdsourcing proposal solicitation mechanism. Project proposals are evaluated by a multi-disciplinary group, from which a limited number are selected for implementation.
Associate Professor of Anesthesia and Director of the UCSF Pain Management Center, Mario De Pinto, MD, was an author on a winning proposal to establish a non-operative spine service to transform the care of back and neck pain at UCSF, for the 2017–2018 Caring Wisely cycle. Other authors included Chris Holland and Drs. Conor O’Neill (first author), Nat Gleason, and Matt Callahan. The goal of their project is to demonstrate that integrated, multidisciplinary care for neck and back pain, using a bio-psycho-social approach, will improve the quality and value of care for these patients, while reducing costs for UCSF Health.
Read more about the UCSF Center for Healthcare Value, Caring Wisely Program, here.
Gonzales R, et al. Caring Wisely: A Program to Support Frontline Clinicians and Staff in Improving Healthcare Delivery and Reducing Costs. J. Hosp. Med. 2017 August;12(8):662-667