Oct 18, 2014 | Health Navigator
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation article noted: “three out of four U.S. physicians say the frequency with which doctors order but just as many say that the average physician orders unnecessary medical tests and procedures at least once a week…”
“…half of physicians think they are in the best position to address the problem and have ultimate responsibility for making sure patients avoid unnecessary care. Yet at the same time, more than half the physicians surveyed say they’d give an insistent patient a medical test they knew to be unnecessary.”
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Oct 17, 2014 | Health Navigator
The Modern Healthcare article noted “overuse for more than two dozen cancer screening, imaging, diagnostic, preventive or preoperative testing services and found it totaled 0.6% of Medicare spending.”
“The results underscore the potential for savings from efforts to eliminate medical care that has been identified by previous research as unnecessary, and wasteful, such as colorectal screening among those age 85 and older with no history of colon cancer.”
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Sep 16, 2014 | Health Navigator
The JAMA Internal Medicine article included the following abstract “From April 16, 2006, through May 30, 2013, a team of reviewers from HealthNewsReview.org, many of whom were physicians, evaluated the reporting by US news organizations on new medical treatments, tests, products, and procedures. After reviewing 1889 stories … the reviewers graded most stories unsatisfactory on 5 of 10 review criteria: costs, benefits, harms, quality of the evidence, and comparison of the new approach with alternatives. Drugs, medical devices, and other interventions were usually portrayed positively; potential harms were minimized, and costs were ignored. Our findings can help journalists improve their news stories and help physicians and the public better understand the strengths and weaknesses of news media coverage of medical and health topics.”
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Sep 15, 2014 | Health Navigator
The Choosing Wisely article noted “Physicians Say Unnecessary Tests and Procedures Are a Serious Problem, and Feel a Responsibility to Address the Issue.”
“Physicians say unnecessary tests and procedures represent a serious problem in the health care system. A majority of physicians feels a strong responsibility to help their patients avoid unnecessary care.”
“84 percent of physicians are interested in learning more about evidence-based recommendations that address when tests and procedures may be unnecessary. Physicians with exposure to the Choosing Wisely campaign are 17 points more likely to have reduced the number of tests or procedures they have done in the last 12 months. 45 percent of primary care physicians say they have seen or heard about the Choosing Wisely campaign after a description.”
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Sep 14, 2014 | Health Navigator
The Kaiser Health News article noted “The most frequent reasons that physicians order extraneous—and costly—medical care are fears of being sued, impulses to be extra careful and desires to reassure their own assessments of the patient…”
“… Choosing Wisely, a two-year old campaign devised by a foundation created by internal medicine doctors … has persuaded nearly 60 medical societies to identify overused tests and procedures. The goal is to cut back on needless medical care, which by some estimates may waste a third of the $2.8 trillion the country spends on health each year.”
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Sep 13, 2014 | Health Navigator
The Becker Hospital Review article reported “A hospital in New Hampshire is garnering some attention after it advertised its colonoscopies for a flat rate in the Sunday newspaper.”
“Elliot Hospital in Manchester, N.H., is using CareBundles to set all-inclusive fees for colonoscopies, hernia repair ($4,995) and knee arthroscopy ($5,995), according to a New Hampshire Public Radio report. Only the uninsured can get these set-price procedures for now, although the hospital is hoping to launch relationships with employers.”
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation article noted: “three out of four U.S. physicians say the frequency with which doctors order but just as many say that the average physician orders unnecessary medical tests and procedures at least once a week…”
