Choosing Wisely Canada’s efforts to create a more efficient and responsive health care system across the country received kudos in a report released last Friday by Health Canada.

The report is the product of a federal advisory panel on health care innovation chaired by Dr. David Naylor, former president of the University of Toronto.

The panel was created by federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose last June with the mandate of identifying the five most promising areas of innovation that have the potential to reduce spending while improving quality and access to care.

It’s for this reason that Choosing Wisely Canada was recognized for its attempt at changing system culture, as it continues to encourage physician specialty societies across the country to list unnecessary tests, treatments, and procedures for patients.

“The Panel salutes this initiative as an innovative physician-led and patient-centered approach that has the potential to shift healthcare away from a culture of consumption to a focus on appropriateness and quality of care. The Panel encourages governments to support the implementation of this initiative in all jurisdictions and to carefully evaluate its impact…The Panel observed that some effective technologies and practices are slow to diffuse, while obsolete technologies and practices persist. To this end it recommended funding for, and careful evaluation of the impact of, Choosing Wisely Canada.”