This list is managed by the SHEA Guidelines Committee. It originally was developed for the ABIM Choosing Wisely campaign.
Since it was first published in 2016, the Guidelines Committee has reviewed and updated it biennially, with the most recent revision in March 2024, published in July 2024. In 2015, a SHEA task force compiled a list of approximately 40 recommendations of medical tests or treatments to avoid, collected from members of the SHEA Guidelines, Public Policy and Government Affairs, Antibiotic Stewardship, Education, and Publications Committees. From those suggestions, the group reviewed removed duplicates and electronically ranked them. The top 15 recommendations were sent to the SHEA Research Network for a separate ranking. The Guidelines Committee reviewed the top 8 recommendations for their appropriateness for the Choosing Wisely campaign, and five final recommendations were formally approved by the SHEA Guidelines Committee and the SHEA Board of Trustees. The method for the development of the first SHEA Choosing Wisely list is published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology: https://doi.org/10.1017%2Fice.2016.61.