What is a central aim of High Value Healthcare?

• A. Increasing the number of tests performed annually.
• B. Keeping electronic health records isolated.
• C. Reducing unnecessary and redundant tests while improving information sharing.
• D. Increasing antibiotic usage without oversight.

Answer: (C)

High Value Healthcare aims to maximize patient outcomes while using resources wisely. The central goal is to avoid waste by skipping unnecessary and duplicative tests and by ensuring clinicians have access to complete, shareable information to guide decisions. When testing is evidence-based and information flows smoothly between providers, care becomes safer, more efficient, and better aligned with patient needs and preferences. This reduces patient burden, lowers costs, and helps prevent harms from over-testing or fragmented care.

Choosing to reduce unnecessary testing while improving information sharing best embodies this mindset. In contrast, simply increasing the number of tests adds cost and potential risk without guaranteed benefit. Keeping electronic health records isolated hinders coordinated care and can lead to repeated or missed information. Increasing antibiotic use without oversight undermines patient safety and stewardship efforts.