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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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 5, 2014 | Health Navigator
The NPR noted: “One study found that 1 in 5 prescriptions written in doctor’s offices has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat the condition it is being used for.”
“It’s actually quite common for doctors to write ‘off label’ prescriptions, including using cancer drugs to treat migraine headaches or blood pressure medication for heart failure.”
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Sep 3, 2014 | Health Navigator
“Don’t just ask the doctor which type of treatment you should get…,” “Ask the doctor, ‘What happens if I don’t get this treatment? How does this affect the outcome?’”
A Kaiser Health News article noted ”Older breast cancer patients who received radiation treatment after surgery were more likely to undergo a more expensive and somewhat controversial type of radiation called brachytherapy if they got their care at for-profit rather than nonprofit hospitals…”
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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…”
