Choosing Wisely Saudi Arabia, an initiative launched by the Ministry of Health in 2019 and led by the Saudi Patient Safety Center, is primarily driven by the goal of improving and enhancing patient safety. The vision behind this initiative is to ensure that healthcare services are safe, effective, efficient, and patient-centered, while providing the appropriate level of care based on scientific research. It acknowledges that the current delivery of healthcare services in Saudi Arabia sometimes involves unnecessary waste of resources. To address this issue, the initiative aims to raise awareness among physicians and patients regarding the misuse of medical resources, influencing their attitudes and promoting more efficient resource utilization.
A National Steering Committee has been established to provide credible and effective leadership support, ensuring the initiative's success. Choosing Wisely Saudi Arabia focuses on improving the quality and safety of care delivered to patients by reducing waste, unnecessary tests, and procedures, while simultaneously enhancing communication between patients and healthcare providers. By implementing best practice guidelines and fostering a culture of evidence-based decision-making, the initiative plays a vital role in creating a safer healthcare environment. Ultimately, its mission is to enhance patient safety, promote better outcomes, and ensure that patients receive high-quality care that is both effective and safe.

Initiative Scope & Purpose - Why was this initiative launched?

• Identify tests, treatments, and procedures of questionable value, meaning that the appropriateness of their use should be discussed carefully with patients before being carried out.
• To improve conversations between patients and their healthcare providers and empower them to ask questions about what tests and procedures are right for them.

Initiative Outcomes - What is the initiative impact?

• Reduce unnecessary waste and optimize cost of healthcare delivery through the implementation of best practice guidelines.
• Improve patient safety by enhancing the quality of healthcare services provided to patients.
• Promote awareness among health care providers and patients by conducting training and discussions.

Definition

Choosing Wisely initiative is one of our most well-known initiatives. The goal of the initiative is to promote conversations between clinicians and patients by helping patients choose care that is:

• Reinforced by evidence
• Not duplicative of other tests or procedures previously ordered
• Free of harm
• Truly necessary

On a medium to long term, Saudi Choosing Wisely program will help:

• Educate physicians and patients resulting in an increase of level of awareness.
• Encourage shared decision-making.
• Enhance the quality of services and deliver better safe care for patients.
• Maximize the services efficiency and overall performance.
• Control costs and improve finances.
• Empower patients and enable them to be partners in healthcare.

Checkout the Choosing Wisely one-pager document in Arabic and English from the link below to gain a better understanding of what Choosing Wisely entails.

Download English Version Download Arabic Version

The Saudi Patient Safety Center (SPSC) initiated the annual National Patient Safety Award in 2018. This esteemed recognition is given annually to innovative and applied projects or initiatives that have significantly contributed to the Saudi healthcare sector's objective of minimizing patient harm. The award serves as a platform to disseminate novel approaches to enhancing patient safety.
Given the crucial importance of the Choosing Wisely Saudi Arabia initiative, a dedicated category has been established. This track focuses on identifying and acknowledging projects that foster collaborative patient-physician decision-making within the Saudi healthcare landscape. By promoting sensible utilization of medical tests and procedures, these projects aim to optimize patient care while mitigating unnecessary costs. For more information about the award click here