MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Renuka S Bindraban, MD and Prabath W. B. Nanayakkara, MD, PhD Section of Acute Medicine Department of Internal Medicine Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute Amsterdam UMC Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherland  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: It is well known that a significant portion of healthcare activities is considered of low-value. Eliminating such low-value care is often targeted in efforts to both contain rapidly increasing healthcare costs as well as maintain high-quality care. In this context, our study focused on reducing unnecessary laboratory testing. In 2008, our study group performed a multifaceted intervention aimed at reducing unnecessary diagnostic testing at the Internal Medicine department of the Amsterdam University Medical Center, location Vrije Universiteit (VU). In the ‘Reduction of Unnecessary Diagnostics Through Attitude Change of the Caregivers’, we implemented this successful intervention in the Internal Medicine departments of four large teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. The intervention included creating awareness through education and feedback, intensified supervision of residents, and changes in order entry systems. (more…)