As noted a few days ago, I’ve been at the ABIM Foundation Forum. This is, frankly, the most heartening event I’ve been to: the Foundation people are working hard to generate real transformation in the practice of medicine, including the new Choosing Wisely campaign with Consumer Reports, how ABIM certifies doctors in various specialties, etc. And as I said the other day, there were several patients and patient advocates here.

But doing good work doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun. :-)  The other day somebody noted a new acronym about excessive testing, particularly radiology, which is widely known to be a waste of money and risky if overused, because every scan exposes patients to radiation. (Radiologists call for national strategy to address medical imaging overuse – Diagnostic Imaging, Aug 2010) The new acronym is VOMIT:

Victim
Of
Multiple
Image
Technologies

It spread like wildfire on Twitter. Before long, radiologist Geraldine McGinty @gmcginty responded, “I like this better:

Smart
Use of
Imaging
Technology
Saves”

Let’s hear it for that!

Will this year’s Forum be remembered as the year of Suits & Vomit? Let’s hope not – but a good acronym helps keep an issue at top of mind.

———-

Nitpick update 10pm ET: since obviously not all imaging is overuse, I’d prefer this:

Victim of
Overused
Medical
Imaging
Tests