“Caring wisely” is a phrase loaded with a profound responsibility – to thoughtfully do the right thing with respect and dignity for all. Wisdom is the ability or result of an ability to think and act utilizing knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight. Patient to patient, medical knowledge, experience, and common sense are constants for any given health care provider. When health care providers learn each of their patient’s sets of expectations, hopes, and fears, they can develop an understanding of their patients’ unique goals of care and gain insight into what care each patient values. It is this second part of wisdom on which I wish to focus. My idea is to engage patients in defining their values and care goals in a standardized manner at the time of hospital admission or pre-operative evaluation. Establishing this guide for patient care early should reduce the number of future decision-points, improve efficiency of future decision-making, lower hospital costs by reducing wasteful care, and make “caring wisely” a simple choice.