More than 40 percent of doctors surveyed said their patients receive more medical care than needed, due chiefly to physicians’ fear of malpractice lawsuits.
The survey of 627 members of the American Medical Association, conducted by Dr. Brenda Sirovich of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and two colleagues, also found that just 6 percent believe their patients got too little care.
Three quarters of doctors surveyed said that malpractice concerns caused them to over-treat patients.
The research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine also disclosed that 62 percent of respondents believe diagnostic testing would be reduced if it did not generate revenue. Doctors are compensated for each test and procedure individually, thereby increasing their incentives for unnecessary or ineffective practices.
“Physicians seem to see that there are excesses of the medical care system,” Sirovich told National Journal. “Almost half saw it in their own practices — their own patients are getting what they describe as too much medical care.”
The researchers concluded that “malpractice reform, realignment of financial incentives, and more time with patients could remove pressure on physicians to do more than they feel is needed.”
Another study found that in 2009, more than $6.7 billion was wasted in excess healthcare spending in the primary care setting alone.
The study headed by Dr. Minal Kale, a postdoctoral fellow at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, disclosed that more than half of complete blood work ordered was unnecessary, antibiotics were overprescribed, and money was wasted on unnecessary bone density scans, urine testing, Pap tests and pediatric cough medicine prescriptions.
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