SynthesisBMC health services research2016
Are low-value care measures up to the task? A systematic review of the literature.
Synthesis in BMC health services research, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Strategies to reduce the use of low-value medical tests in primary care: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Pooled it
- Measures Used to Assess the Impact of Interventions to Reduce Low-Value Care: a Systematic Review.Journal of general internal medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Technology regulation reconsidered: The effects of certificate of need policies on the quantity and quality of diagnostic imaging.Journal of health economics · 2025Article
- Time to de-implementation of low-value cancer screening practices: a narrative review.BMJ quality & safety · 2025Review
- Estimating the societal costs and benefits of de-implementation of low-value care: developing a modelling approach through case assessment.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Article
- Validity of an Administrative Claims-Based Measure of Low-Value Carotid Revascularization.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2024Article
- Development and validation of a new ICD-10-based screening colonoscopy overuse measure in a large integrated healthcare system: a retrospective observational study.BMJ quality & safety · 2023Observational
- Managing the moral expansion of medicine.BMC medical ethics · 2022Article
- National governance of de-implementation of low-value care: a qualitative study in Sweden.Health research policy and systems · 2022Article
- An Analysis of 5 Years of Randomized Trials in Gastroenterology and Hepatology Reveals 52 Medical Reversals.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2022Review
- Strategies to Reduce Low-Value Cardiovascular Care: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.Circulation. Cardiovascular quality and outcomes · 2022Review
- Development of a Metric to Detect and Decrease Low-Value Prescribing in Older Adults.JAMA network open · 2022Article
- Rates of Low-Value Service in Australian Public Hospitals and the Association With Patient Insurance Status.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- An Evidence Review of Low-Value Care Recommendations: Inconsistency and Lack of Economic Evidence Considered.Journal of general internal medicine · 2021Review
- De-implementing low-value care in endocrinology.Endocrine · 2021Review
- Adverse Events and Hospital-Acquired Conditions Associated With Potential Low-Value Care in Medicare Beneficiaries.JAMA health forum · 2021Article
- Assessment of Overuse of Medical Tests and Treatments at US Hospitals Using Medicare Claims.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- Barriers and facilitators to reduce low-value care: a qualitative evidence synthesis.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Same-Day vs Different-Day Elective Upper and Lower Endoscopic Procedures by Setting.JAMA internal medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundReducing low-value care is a core component of healthcare reforms in many Western countries. A comprehensive and sound set of low-value care measures is needed in order to monitor low-value care use in general and in provider-payer contracts. Our objective was to review the scientific literature on low-value care measurement, aiming to assess the scope and quality of current measures.
methodsA systematic review was performed for the period 2010-2015. We assessed the scope of low-value care recommendations and measures by categorizing them according to the Classification of Health Care Functions. Additionally, we assessed the quality of the measures by 1) analysing their development process and the level of evidence underlying the measures, and 2) analysing the evidence regarding the validity of a selected subset of the measures.
resultsOur search yielded 292 potentially relevant articles. After screening, we selected 23 articles eligible for review. We obtained 115 low-value care measures, of which 87 were concentrated in the cure sector, 25 in prevention and 3 in long-term care. No measures were found in rehabilitative care and health promotion. We found 62 measures from articles that translated low-value care recommendations into measures, while 53 measures were previously developed by institutions as the National Quality Forum. Three measures were assigned the highest level of evidence, as they were underpinned by both guidelines and literature evidence. Our search yielded no information on coding/criterion validity and construct validity for the included measures. Despite this, most measures were already used in practice.
conclusionThis systematic review provides insight into the current state of low-value care measures. It shows that more attention is needed for the evidential underpinning and quality of these measures. Clear information about the level of evidence and validity helps to identify measures that truly represent low-value care and are sufficiently qualified to fulfil their aims through quality monitoring and in innovative payer-provider contracts. This will contribute to creating and maintaining the support of providers, payers, policy makers and citizens, who are all aiming to improve value in health care.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.