[How to fight against overtreatment ? Example of neuroleptic prescriptions for acute delirium]

Since 2014, the Swiss Smarter medicine - choosing wisely campaign has established lists of recommendations, with an emphasis on futile treatments and tests where risks may outweigh benefits. Ultimately this initiative aims to develop, disseminate and implement educational programs to improve quality of care. Literature shows a positive impact of this initiative on clinical practice. Hence, we developed several guidelines based on this initiative in our internal medicine department. This article describes the multimodal and interprofessional strategy aiming to reduce neuroleptic prescriptions in acute delirium. After the implementation of this recommendation in our clinical practice, we noted positive effects, both qualitative and quantitative, confirming the potential benefit of such changes.